The ancient Chedi stands eternal
in the gated town of the golden land
among thousand peaks, this is the primary
pilgrims take refuge and tourists wow
can one have desire and not suffer?
therein the omniscient one answers

He’s the father
the light that guide
the rain that shower
the land with hope

look up now
he is in the clouds above
whispering words of comfort
giving strength
to the people he loves

this blessed memory
lingers on
a gentle warmth
in all our hearts

a familiar tune
breaking through the morning news
Oh yes,
it’s loy krathong

humming along to the tune
ah, I should remember
to put a thanksgiving basket
onto the river
for the goddess of water

as the candles flow
may the light
in your heart
continues to glow

The wetland is in its daylight beauty
the calm water mirrors the still blue sky
upon the pond among reeds and cattails
are two elegant, wild white swans
mysterious and graceful, reflecting
the charm of Thailand and her people

Thai By
This place gets under your skin. Slowly creeping in like black Texas gold. I said I'd never partake in the cat house girls. Seeing them each day for eighteen months was routine. Walking past the 'venues' to my shop. Usual hi's and hello's.

Then one fine humid day, bang! I happened. I changed. Cabin fever? I walked into Suzi's Place. I put my cash on the counter and grinded the mamasan first. Then her two daughters followed by every other girl in there. It took thirteen hours.

I totalled twenty eight girls. Most were nice. I can't tell my wife. My mate could, his wife's cool. Mine isn't. I'll say I was busy inking from dawn to dusk. I'm not sure what came over me. The Thai air got under my skin. That day tattooing could wait.

Maybe I'll do it again. Invite my wife and her toy boy. Did I say that people are strange here? I fit in well...

I’m tired of these lonesome nights
spent **** in fist and staring at the ceiling.
Exist in thought and again through
ever-changing screens;
it’s been years since I lived through action.

Desiccated white heels in the dust of Savannakhet.
Finding love in the half-dark Bangkok hotel room.
The bar-maid in Malaga, hash from Morocco,
all those nights spent lusting for blood amongst the wine.

Now getting high means finding an anchor
to hold me down when gravity does not feel enough.
When all forces of G-d and Nature combined
Cannot rattle hard enough to force me to speak
in any half-filled room.

Sometimes I’m certain the noise in my chest
can be heard aloud
and everyone knows I am nothing.
I wonder why in all my dreams
Beauty follows in my footsteps.

I wonder why in all my dreams
I’m running away from something.

Where we are is somewhere quiet.

Somewhere along the outskirts of a border town between Thailand and Cambodia.

I'm walking along what should be a desolate road under the glow of a late afternoon sky,

In the near distance a flock of birds shroud past a little girl being pushed around in a wheelbarrow by her brother.

I don't hear anything, everything has the volume turned down,

Muted to a still silence, and it's then I realize I've lost the rest of my senses too.

All but my sight, which is fixated closely on the most genuine smile and happiness I've ever come to witness.

Here and now has never been more imminent, for the first time in my history I might actually just be living in the present.

Bing bing **** annouce
train to Chiang Mai departs soon!
the king sleeps dog barks

I can't stop thinking about you
But I cannot find the right words to speak
So much artistry to make this forever anew
Scrambled by the instance it seeks my hand
The loss of you continues to make me weak
Yet in a distance I know you are just fine

I shouldn't have let you in
To the deepest of chambers
Held by the vessel of all emotion
Tarnished by seemingly endless wars
The thought of us now many see as sin
A notion
Splitting my mind since the moment
We left the mainland
To forge memories no one
Can claim were their own

Several hands have been dealt
To help me forget
Everything I felt and all I thought
I saw
Your silence sends the message
I should walk away
Back into the chambers
Of the secluded fortress
I once let you in

I know our new friends
Watch my pursuits grow further
Which leads me to wonder
If you think about me
As much as I think about you

Despite what I want to happen
I know I must let fate run its course
If our paths cross again
Maybe, just maybe

Or it will prove I shouldn't have let you in

I love the sound of the city she says
It is like a storm against the window
I can lie naked and ruined
after a long day
and be grateful to find stillness.

In the morning I hear monks chanting
In the afternoon it is all traffic
In the evening I hear stray dogs
as people find each other in the dark.
I love the sound of the city she says

the sound of chaos
the sound of calm.