pai bursting through the fog to fly in low across the rice paddies dumping its deadly load & setting the pond a-tremble with aftershocks the size of frogs now skipping the mountains of pai untold numbers of karen separatists pray…

fireworks rupture the temple on the hill’s serenity the interior’s panorama suffocated by a buddhist vision of hell flavoured with more than a dash of hindu horror – here’s a massacre of men & women sawn in half by grinning…

armed with their hideouts & slingshots & smiles they gather at nightfall beside a rocky river road to compete in monied contests dodge tuk-tuks & flurries of laughter now pulling the notes from their pockets & placing them on the…

depressed as the prices no longer deluded by smiles passing signposts kilometres coming no closer to what were once called destinations – border crossings & pass-outs different games same rules waiting for the photo-op that might make the cost of…

in bundles my friend! in every pocket! stuff those notes! hang the exchange rate! just get out there & start handing it over! spend it daily! spend it gaily! but wait – there’s more! it’s all for sale! everything must…

under the pavement, laos in dissent: a skin full of worn bones, the footprint’s masseuse, a fist full of pavements & laos under laos, the mekhong’s predictions: swallowing bombs, reeking dimly of lao beer on a menu full of laos…

ah! luang prabang ancient capital unesco world heritage magnificently preserved in pristine condition please bring cameras film & kleenex for the mop-up /click! & we’re off through the view-finder: monks kiddies grannies trannies ripe for developing when you get back…

cock & football! it’s time to get up & don’t those horny roosters know it! cock & football! cock & football! around the brown river bend here comes dawn’s breaker rise & shine cock & football! cock & football! cock-a-doodle-do!…

visit laos & bring your wheelbarrow pretend this isn’t communism gone nuts ignore the poorly-organised protesters turn a blind eye to the fall of the wall incarcerate yourself in a capitalist prison you’re lucky to have been arrested here now…