thailand

Takraw Monkey

my name is mud as in good i help you with thai translation i am monkey & i am crazy good at takraw & at takraw kicks—do you see me where i practice? yes? at the beach with a ball…

Oh Blossom

come here blossom fall down here on my lap & let me run my fingers through your delicate pink petals the way you used to like it in spring- time when you were all in bloom oh blossom remember every…

Mountains of Pai

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…

Mr Tui

mr tui you’d have to win the “safest driver in thailand” award you were a man of few words but smooth driving actions eg your easy familiarity with the nine hundred & forty two sharp corners between chiang mai &…

Emaciated Buddha

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…

The Boys on Thanon Lim Khong

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…

Low Season, Last Days

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…

The Kip & How to Carry It

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

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…