Pornchai Moontri: From Prison Blues to Poetic Muse!

I was surprised three weeks ago about the comments after my post, "In Memoriam." The post was a call to remember my friends, Cardinal Avery Dulles and Father Richard John Neuhaus who have been gone from this life for two years. In the post, I made a brief mention of a letter from Father Neuhaus to Pornchai Moontri, and of how that letter was among the forces that caused Pornchai to become a Catholic.What surprised me was the number of comments mentioning my brief paragraph about Pornchai. He was certainly not central to that post, but lots of people mention him in their comments on several of my posts. In fact, I've noticed a pattern. It might be just my imagination, but when I mention Pornchai, readers seem to comment more. I showed the comments on that post to Pornchai and told him about my theory. He readily concurred. "If you don't mention me," he said, "no one reads it!" Well, I doubt that's true. At least, I HOPE it isn't true!We had this conversation once before. In November in "More Loose Ends and Dangling Participles," I wrote about being locked in one stormy day and having nothing but depression to write about. Searching for a topic, I ended up writing about the conversation in this cell that day. Readers thought it was hilarious. I guess it was. It's a bit Shakespearean, however, that something as horrible as prison can end up sounding funny.One day, Pornchai told me that it actually makes him a little nervous when TSW readers comment about him. "Being a Catholic in public means that I will make mistakes and let people down," he said. That's true. So my reply to Pornchai is simple. "Yes, you can let people down. Everyone does. But you can also inspire people, even after you disappoint them.”It's the heart of conversion that Father Neuhaus tried to drive home to Pornchai in his beautiful letter. We are not the sum total of our mistakes and failures, nor are we saddled with the sins of our past if we seek and find repentance. Focusing on them is not what it means to be Catholic.Conversion is a process, not an event. One of our friends in this prison became a Catholic last year. Pornchai and I were both present, and were witnesses at his baptism. A few months later, he was lugged to "the hole" for losing his temper and "cleaning someone's clock." It happens just about every day in every prison everywhere, and not even recent Catholic converts are immune. Our friend is out of the hole now, and Pornchai spends a lot of time with him demonstrating a better way to cope with stress and deal with his anger.The Greek philosopher and mathematician, Pythagoras (560 - 480 B.C.) wrote that “The most momentous thing in human life is the art of winning the soul to good or to evil.” Speaking the language of hope to someone who has failed is something Pornchai is profoundly good at. He reaches people no one else can get through to.I think that's why the Catholic Church became so attractive to Pornchai. It is entirely focused forward. The misery of the past - of all our pasts - was borne upon the back of Christ. So, being Catholic means taking up our Cross on a daily basis, carrying it, and then when we fail and drop it, we pick it up again. We carry our crosses to "the narrow gate," the image in the Gospel (Matthew 7:13) that so inspired Pornchai, and that writer, Ryan MacDonald described in "Pornchai's Path to the Narrow Gate." True believers don't always take the easy path just because it's easy.After "Pornchai's Story" was published by The Catholic League, Pornchai received another letter from a very unexpected source. If you have read "Pornchai's Story," then you might have a sense of the power this particular letter had for him. It was a personal letter from His Eminence, Cardinal Michael Michai Kitbunchu, Archbishop Emeritus of Bangkok, Thailand. After reading "Pornchai's Story," Cardinal Kitbunchu wrote on May 7, 2009:

"The story of Pornchai really touched my heart, and I found the story very amazing since God has his plan. He has been working . . . in the good heart of Pornchai. The Archdiocese of Bangkok would then give you a hand and would do whatever possible to help. It is not so difficult for Pornchai if he wants to dedicate himself for others."

WALKING IN THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATHMeanwhile, we are shipwrecked in prison. Prisoners are not supposed to write nice things about the prisons that keep them locked up, and this prison is no less dismal and confining than any other. But this prison does do one thing exceedingly well. It provides programs that hold out an avenue for redemption for any prisoner who wants to do something more productive than watch his life pass by in fuming resentment.In "Fifty-Seven Times Around the Sun," a post on my birthday last year, I wrote about some of the realities of prison life. Prison is often cruel and tragic. No one - certainly no Christian - should ever be anxious to throw people into prison interminably. In "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas 17 Times" in December, I wrote of some of the stark contrast between dark and light moments in prison, and of how both seem to proliferate around Christmas.By the second week of January, however, life in prison snapped back to its normal, tedious routine. The depression and confinement of prison in a New Hampshire winter set in, and by the start of February everyone here stares with dismal foreboding at the mountains of snow encasing their prison.It’s also about the time that education classes start up again for prisoners wise enough to use their time to learn something besides the gang culture that permeates prisons everywhere.  As prisoners here flock back to school – some just to fill up time and others craving to learn – I meet them every day on the long trek through snow to the education center.As I mentioned two weeks ago in “The Books of Winter’s Long Night,” at 11:30 every day hundreds of prisoners slowly climb the long flights of stairs to the education floor to attend class or visit the library.  The long line up the stairs moves slowly as prisoners are checked in one by one at the top.During the long, slow trek, math books come out all around us as prisoners ask Pornchai questions about their math homework. It’s often a funny scene.  There’s an animated TV series called “Family Guy” that I’ve seen once or twice.  For some reason, it’s very popular in prison.There was one episode in which Stewie’s dad, Peter, decided to go back to school. During a math exam, all the students reached into their desks for calculators. But Peter pulled an Asian kid out from somewhere, sat him on the desk, and poked him with a pencil saying, “Do math!”  “Do math!”  For days later, other prisoners were poking Pornchai with their pencils saying, “Do math!” “Do math!”  It’s a cultural stereotype, but Pornchai could be known for far worse things.  It’s rooted in reality, however.  I just read about a math and science test measuring the proficiency of high school students in sixty countries.  In both math and science, six of the top ten results were those of Asian countries.  The Asian brain seems clearly wired for math. The atmosphere on the prison education floor is probably like that of most high schools, though the students here range in age from eighteen to seventy.Somehow, learning happens out of the overcrowded chaos. There isn't a math course left here that Pornchai can take so this semester he signed up for classes in writing and world geography. The writing class is a challenge for him. In one early assignment, he had to write two poems for homework. I'm not much help. Though there are several poets I like, I've never written poetry.So I suggested that he just narrow his vision and maybe write a poem about not wanting to write the poem. The result was not exactly Pulitzer material, but I was impressed.The teacher's name is Mr. Poor and I got Pornchai's permission to re-print his first stab at poetry in Mr. Poor's class:

“I DON’T WANT TO WRITE THIS POEM.”I don’t want to write this poem.My thoughts oughta be just mine.Mister Poor wants me to show ‘imI can write coherent lines.I don’t want to write this poem.Poetry just isn’t me.Mister Poor should just not go inMy poetic diary.

For the second poem, I suggested to Pornchai that he write about what he sees and hears in prison, and to keep it simple. The result just begs to be published, so here it is:

"MY ROOMMATE IS A RABID WRITER."My roommate is a rabid writer.Tap, tap. Tap, tap. Tap, tap, tap.He types until my mind winds tighter.Tap, tap. Tap, tap. Tap, tap, tap.He's never had an unwritten thought.Tap, tap. Tap, tap. Tap, tap, tap.He types and types til my nerves are nought.Tap, tap. Tap, tap, Tap, tap, tap.My roommate's also a real good friend,Tap, tap. Tap, tap. Tap, tap, tap.And stays that way til the bitter end.Tap, tap. Tap, tap. Tap, tap, tap.And we all like the result, you see,Tap, tap. Tap, tap. Tap, tap, tap.And sometimes all this typing's 'bout me!TAP, tap. Tap, TAP, tap. Tap, TAP?"

Anyway, Pornchai wanted readers to know that this is a good post to prove his theory about generating comments. He came up with a mathematical model for this:

p(p)=c² (Posts about Pornchai = comments squared)

WOODCARVING EAST OF EDENIn two of my posts, "In the Land of Nod, East of Eden," and "Come Sail Away!" I profiled some of Pornchai's prodigious skill with wood carving. Awhile back, a TSW reader sent me several pages of a Google search, using quotes, for "The Art of Model Shipbuilding." Out of some 470,000 results, the story of Pornchai’s wood carvings appeared prominently on the first page.Several TSW readers have asked how they could purchase some of Pornchai's work. The cost of packing and shipping his intricate model ships is prohibitive, but he has been designing a few wooden chests and a beautiful clock in a hand-carved wooden housing that could be sent to TSW readers who want them. The cost is very reasonable, and so far all reports describe them as exquisite treasures. In a few weeks, we’ll have some photos and information about obtaining one or the other or both.Meanwhile, I’ll leave it to you whether you want to prove Pornchai’s mathematical formula about comments. Just remember, I’m the one who has to live with the results!