Tag: laos (page 4 of 5)

Under the Pavement, Laos

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 & mekhongs

under the mekhong, the current’s advance:
upon an unknown beach, a silent chorus,
from a porous row of mekhongs & currents

under the current, the riverbed’s half-truths:
imprints of bottles where eyes once shone,
yawns in a mouth full of currents & riverbeds

under the riverbed, the earth’s velocity:
half-lies boring rings in fire, extinguished
by the scrutiny of riverbeds & earth

under the earth, the fossil’s remainder:
snails that spiral, ladders of chance, scratches
in sandstone outlining earth & fossils

under the fossil, the stone’s logic:
a dead language rehydrated then vaporised
by the closeness of fossils & stones

A Photographer’s Wet Dream

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 to your secret laboratory
national geographic are definitely interested
oh i'm spent! /i'm spent again! / how the stock
churns like spectators through a turnstyle!
i can feel it! the money shot's in my sights!
i'm getting warmer now! i can't hold off much 
oh!

           click /click
    /jesus! 


click /click
                             oh!


another kleenex moment

Cock & Football

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! it's morning 
once again & don't those poor hens know it! 
cock & football! your smoking pleasure! 
international! now available - via satellite 
in black & white and colour blasted straight
into your "loungeroom" with all the subtlety 
of a striptease on speed cock & football! cock 
& football! get out of bed reach for that cold
spoon & apply before rising cock & football!
world cup final! & a nice pair of legs to stare
at while shouting cock & football! time to get
up you frisky fat farangs cock & football!
cock & football! cock & football! cock & football!
cock-a-doodle-doo! 



			       fucking cockheads

Visit Laos Year

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 there’s nothing left between you &
the socialist state’s caring attitude towards
intellectuals & slogan-dodgers do not float
canldle-boats on the mekhong & don’t ask
why your demonstration was not reported
in the papers nobody noticed in this most
‘enigmatic’ of nation-building nations being
fucked-over by every major corporation on
earth makes this a stupendous destination
let’s hope visit laos year lasts forever

Tintin & the Plain of Jars

Nothing to report as usual save a badly bruised
rump boy the Lao sure know how to build a road!

as for the jeep well the driver was adamant that
i ride in the back for fear of bandits who as usual

failed to materialise (as did Captain Haddock –
having discovered the medicinal value of sang sam

whiskey okay I’ll see you in Phonsavan! i tried
shouting above a din of fighting cocks & MTV Asia

blistering fucking barnacles! he retorted hotly,
you truly expect me to risk my life for a couple of

cracked fucking jars? I’d sooner meet you in hell!)
well captain this sore arse is here to tell you that

Phonsavan wasn’t worth the trouble – but as for
the plain of jars itself I soon managed to shake off

my guide & was beginning to enjoy the serenity
of my solitude amongst these thousand year old

jars of mystery when I heard a muffled explosion
to the south (in the direction from which I’d come

being of course wary of landmines i took my time
getting back to the jeep but it was too late the poor

guide, i suppose alarmed at my giving him the slip
& in this plain of bombs had searched only to find

his left foot on top of a rusted metal disc & one
second later his entire body blown to the four

winds (what more could i do but commandeer
the old jeep & settle into the padded driver’s seat

for the long ride back to bangkok to await both
my drunken captain & his pointless expletives?