Poetry from Thailand

Original poetry written in and about rural Thailand.

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Location: Chong Khae, Nakhonsawan, Thailand

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Wat Walking, Ayutthaya, Thailand

Unlike wooden blocks strewn in a child’s room,
the debris field around the ancient wat,
is too sacred to pick up or restore
to order. Huge stones and falling-in
walls of brick are now left for generations of
hands-off perpetual care. The ground is uneven, too,
and requires care when walking. Here and there
broken statues of Buddha are necklaced
with plastic, yellow ribbons. They were fastened
lovingly by some religious dowser who found
a personal spiritual fountain here.
I’m not an ugly American, but like many
I am a souring one who’s losing his sense
of balance. These ribbons that I’ve seen
around crime scenes give me pause, too,
until stumbling in the Thai heat I think
I might trade enlightenment itself for
some even, get-away ground.

20 March 2011

All rights reserved by the author Forrest Greenwood.

I am now the Ayutthaya coordinator for the Gadhafi/Sheen 2012 Presidential campaign. I'm working on a campaign slogan that will translate into Thai. You can't be too careful because when a Thai man says he's "going to go kill a rabbit," he means he's going to go take a piss. So nothing with rabbits.