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Poet Recites Ode to Sihanouk, as Cambodia Weeps

Thousands poured onto the streets of the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh for the royal funeral procession carrying the casket of former King Norodom Sihanouk. He will be cremated Monday in a Buddhist ceremony. Cambodians old and young mourned the revered Norodom Sihanouk, who passed in Beijing in October at the age of 89. His casket moved through six kilometers of central Phnom Penh streets, departing the Royal Palace and arriving at the nearby cremation ground. They wept. They chanted. They prayed. Among them was a 59-year-old farmer from Kampong Cham province named Tia Tha. In tribute to the late King, Tia Tha chants a poem he wrote when he learned of Sihanouk's death. VOA Khmer’s Say Mony reports from Phnom Penh.