"Unlike the structured meters and courtly focus of historical Thai poetry, Ajarn David’s free verse breaks from tradition, yet resonates with timeless themes of nature, love, spirituality, and human connection."
Book Review: Poems from Sakon Nakhon
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oems from Sakon Nakhon, a bilingual collection of 91 free-verse poems by Ajarn David, an American expatriate with over two decades in Thailand, offers a contemporary lens on Thai life, culture, and Buddhism.
While rooted in the landscapes and ethos of Sakon Nakhon, this work invites comparison with Thailand’s rich poetic heritage — particularly the contributions of luminaries like Sunthorn Phu, King Rama II, and Angkarn Kalayanapong.
Unlike the structured meters and courtly focus of historical Thai poetry, Ajarn David’s free verse breaks from tradition, yet resonates with timeless themes of nature, love, spirituality, and human connection, re-imagined through a modern, outsider-insider perspective.
Nature: A Shared Muse, A New Voice
T hai poetry has long celebrated nature as a source of beauty and metaphor. Sunthorn Phu’s Phra Aphai Mani, an epic from the early Rattanakosin period, weaves fantastical tales against lush backdrops of seas and forests, using the klon form’s rhythmic precision to mirror nature’s harmony.
King Rama II’s Sang Thong, with its elegant khlong, paints serene scenes of royal gardens and rivers to elevate moral tales.
In contrast, Poems from Sakon Nakhon embraces nature with a raw, unadorned immediacy. Poem #1—“เมื่อสายฝนหลั่งท้นสู่สกลนคร” (“When the rains come to Sakon Nakhon”) — vividly depicts monsoons transforming rice fields into a teeming ecosystem, free of ornate rhyme yet rich with sensory detail.
Where traditional poets structured nature within prosodic rules, Ajarn David lets it flow freely, reflecting a Buddhist-inspired acceptance of its impermanence rather than a royal idealization.
Love Poetry: From Romance to Reflection
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ove is a cornerstone of Thai poetry, often explored through romance and longing. Sunthorn Phu’s Nirat poems, like Nirat Muang Klaeng, blend travel with aching separation, their klon verses dripping with personal emotion.
Similarly, the Ayutthaya-era Lilit Phra Lo — attributed to an unknown poet — spins a tragic love story in intricate lilit form, intertwining khlong and rai to heighten its emotional cadence. Poems from Sakon Nakhon approaches love differently, often sidelining personal passion for broader, selfless connections.
Poem #14—“รักและรู้สึกรักนั้น ให้เสียงทั้งหนักและเบา” (“The Thai word for love is ‘ruk,’ and to feel love is ‘roo-seuk ruk’”) — muses on love as a fleeting ripple, not a dramatic saga.
Unlike the intense individualism of Sunthorn Phu, Ajarn David’s love poems, like #74 promising eternal support, echo Buddhist compassion (metta), prioritizing others over the self — a stark contrast to the romantic navel-gazing of historical poetical works.
Spirituality: Buddhist Roots, Modern Branches
B uddhism has shaped Thai poetry since the Sukhothai period, with works like Maha Chat Kham Luang adapting Jataka tales into kap verse to teach moral lessons.
King Rama II’s reign saw spiritual themes flourish in courtly khlong, often glorifying royal piety. In the 20th century, Angkarn Kalayanapong’s modernist poetry, such as Lamnam Phu Kradueng, fused raw imagery with Buddhist mysticism, challenging classical forms.
Poems from Sakon Nakhon carries this spiritual baton forward, but with a minimalist twist. Poem #5—“ข้อแรกแห่งพุทธะอริยสัจ” (“The first noble truth of the Buddha”) — presents suffering as a universal stem for growth, free of didacticism.
Unlike Angkarn’s dense symbolism or the ornate morality of earlier poets, Ajarn David’s free verse strips spirituality to its essence, aligning with anatta (non-self) by rarely using “I” (only in 5 of 91 poems), a departure from the ego-driven narratives of Thai epics.
Form and Freedom: Breaking the Mold
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istorically, Thai poetry adhered to strict prosodic forms — khlong, chan, kap, klon — each governed by syllable counts, tone marks, and rhyme schemes.
Sunthorn Phu mastered klon for accessibility, while King Rama II refined khlong for elegance. Even Angkarn, though modern, retained traces of these structures. Poems from Sakon Nakhon discards these entirely, opting for free verse that mirrors spoken Thai’s natural cadence.
This liberation allows Ajarn David to prioritize meaning over meter, as seen in #19 — “เข้าพรรษา” (“Khao Phansa”) — where a call to daily mindfulness flows without rhythmic constraints.
While traditionalists might miss the musicality of chanthalak, this freedom amplifies the book’s universal appeal, unshackling it from courtly or ceremonial roots.
Thai Poetry Without Airs
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oems from Sakon Nakhon both honors and diverges from Thailand’s poetic legacy.
It shares Sunthorn Phu’s love of life’s textures, King Rama II’s spiritual depth, and Angkarn’s innovative spirit, yet rejects their formal rigidity for a modern, selfless voice.
Where historical Thai poetry often served kings or lovers, Ajarn David’s work serves the everyday — farmers, monks, the land itself — infused with Buddhist humility.
This isn’t a replacement for classics like Phra Aphai Mani or Lilit Phra Lo, but a companion that broadens the tradition, offering a globalized yet deeply Thai perspective.
