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GREATER COUCALS
If we follow the greater coucal,
We arrive in the city.
Chin proverb
There are many
Flying coucals
In the hills.
Some coucals
Fly for food
Some coucals
Fly for metaphors
And arrive in the city . . .

Some coucals
Fly for a place to live
For education
With many excuses
Some fly straight
Some fly upside down
Some fly in separate flocks
Some fly high
Some fly against the wind
Some fly with the wind
There are forms of flying 
Flying has multiple techniques
Take strength from fresh air
All arrive in the city . . .
Yes those coucals
Sometimes
Miss a simple life
The hill tradition of
Searching for bamboo shoots and mushrooms.

Sometimes
They miss cool, sweet hkwado night
By the fire
With the music of rice wine.
Sometimes
They miss the tastinness
Of upland rice
With ash curry.
If you peel the skin 
Inside their heart
Aren't the hill people coucals?
However . . .
(Except some), most coucals don't  
Return to the hills
Yes . . .
In the city
There are many coucals
That cannot fly.
 
 
 
 

Editor's Note: Thanks to Rody Dim and Beldy Iang for assisting with the translation. Hkwado is a Chin festival, held annually after harvest.