Myanmar poets square off against junta’s war on words – People

Before he was killed, Khet Thi’s poems railed eloquently against Myanmar’s sudden coup, joining a deluge of protest verse celebrating democracy demonstrators and defying the military’s brutal war on words.

As soldiers unleashed a violent crackdown on resistance to the army takeover, he implored the public to stand firm against what he saw as an existential threat to the country’s future. 

“We have to fight to win this battle,” he wrote. “If we lose: North Korea. If we win: South Korea.”

Last month, scores of police and soldiers surrounded the home he shared with his wife and family in the central city of Shwebo.

They accused the poet — who baked cakes…