welcome to the haikutimes
Issue #97, Thailand, July 26-August 7, 2004
paige introducing me
as a chair, not a poet
a very deep chair
seven dogs and cats
vie for scraps of leftovers,
pee in corner
thai insect squeaking
like rusty garden swing
crickets hum chorus
bad karaoke
amplified 'til the wee hours
in quiet village
teenage hot mopeds
chased by ineffective cops
enforcing no laws
seven-eleven
familiar green, orange, red
on streets of ban phu
i get up to pee
meet guardian frog in loo
puddles everywhere
wet environment
ants on rice on plates
kittens on counter
on thai radio
songs about eating small bugs
and drinking whiskey
no worries here mate
just follow paige around town
'cause she speaks good thai
feeling naked
in back seat without seatbelt
narrow two-lane road
noisy teenagers
insects, doves, dogs and roosters
chief on loudspeaker
monk burping betel
spitting into large red urn
underneath stupa
temple dog gentle
young monk asking paige
if she will translate love letter
to some german girl
scattered by sculptures
rooster asserts dominance
on concrete buddha
tourists, monks wander
amongst concrete likenesses
of sacred motifs
a day in july
feeding fish in sculpture park
gaping mouths groping
in this case the form
transcends the material -
concrete buddhas
guy who made sculptures
now embalmed in plastic dome
not quite ho chi minh /
in florescent hallway
chicken shaking snake
slithery serpent seeking
release from rooster
the distant, dull roar
of noisy asian morning
so much for earplugs
now i understand:
the concept of personal space
just doesn't exist
sandwiched between
karaoke and town crier
a man trying to sleep
southeast asia
inbetween differing peoples,
languages, political systems,
mopeds, food, social organization,
societal ills and advantages,
there is the common thread of
green abundant landscapes,
ecological diversity, cast-off dishwater
in street gutters, concrete infrastructure,
and cell phones everywhere.
add to that a smattering of the
phenomenon known as: karaoke.
i wish the lady who
complains about the highly
monitored music next door
to the solstice institute could come
and experience
neighborhood karaoke in ban phu, thailand.
not only would she feel it was
not her right to ask the music
be turned down after ten p.m.,
she would have no-one to turn to
when it blared past midnight,
not the policeman who lived next door,
afraid to confront the youths;
not a civil code that
outlines noise regulations,
or the structure to enforce that.
the teenagers, drunk on whiskey
and motorbikes and singing flat,
would run roughshod over
her sensibilities.
one last dinner
we think, the place we choose
across the river, is not too far
for a quick tuk-tuk ride
so we negotiate with the first driver who stops.
he seems to understand the direction
but immediately pulls a u-turn
and starts going the other way.
we know something is wrong from the start.
paige is speaking thai, wanting to know
what he is doing
he speaks very quickly
she is getting frustrated
we are cruising along
at a high rate of speed
away from the restaurant
finally he pulls into a side street
where a group of other tuk-tuks are waiting
he admits that he does not know
where he is going
his friend does,
though he demands more money -
he wants 160 bhat,
to take us back past where we started
paige is arguing now,
in broken thai
she gets it down to 60
but when he starts driving
i know we are in for a wild ride
taxis, busses, pedestrians
barely make it out of our way
we take corners too fast
straight-ways taken like the grand prix
we roll into the restaurant
ready for our peaceful meal
totally flustered
not feeding the monks
we go to the mall instead
like other bad thais
homeless, faceless face
just mine, or the one that's
looking back at me?
bitten by cobra
she survives, gives me betel
lady with few teeth
ravel's bolero
transformed into cell phone ring
in rural thailand
protective mama?
elephant pees on her child
who just rolls over
at the hospital
elephant paces about
with mine-damaged leg
elephants do tricks
then wait for the real event;
snarfing sugar cane
sick guy with no trunk
in rehabilatation
nostrils sweat like tears
wrinkled thai woman
holding flawless white blossom
on streets of chiang mai
giddy with laughter
four-wheeling with elephant
toes brush thick grey skin
his 'white trash' t-shirt
announces as much with pic
of trailer on front
chiang mai afternoon
tourists walk down smoggy streets
looking for buddha
counteracting smog
i pick up blossom on street
inhaling perfume
confusing toll way
paying once at the entrance
and once at the end
could be anywhere
singapore, bangkok, tokyo
scum backpacker land
in the heart of khao san road
beginning and end
four monks in taxi
meter goes down to zero
negative car-ma
absolutely still
white mouse stiff and motionless
in mangrove snake jaws
is mouse not aware
that it will soon be dinner?
mangrove snake awaits
at snake institute
venom collected, processed
for snake bite victims
snake is a muscle
with reptilian head
ready to react
transvestite pauses
sizing up territory
along patpong road
guy selling live fish
on pole full of plastic baggies
in bangkok downpour
distinguished white man
walking seedy avenue
holding black briefcase
pimps and prostitutes,
seek shelter from the rain,
mingle with tourists
'if there are monks here,
they won't be dressed in saffron'
paige says knowingly
avenue of vice
women crowding stairwell
waiting to walk up
financial district
overlooking sex district
no coincidence?
totally bored
as she squeezes banana
from her vagina
solo/group kukai
drawing/writing/photography
jonathan machen