Mae Sa

Still here

but kind of parochial now.

The older I get

-the more I do this thing-

the more I love Australia

and the more I get away

and the more I love…

 

And so forth.

 

So up the mountain we go,

up the Mae Sa Valley with

Redgum playing.

Cuts to ‘Flame Trees’ 

as we hit the lookout.

My little Australian chick on the back

of our little scooter. 

“Hold on tight now, Tinka,

no fallin’ off the back!” 

 

“I’m just savourin’ familiar sights”

rings out of the phone

as we park; somehow rings completely 

true as, for the first time, we meet the heavy

air 

that descends

with the sun 

over Samoeng Forest. 

 

Yer, that’ll do: heavy air,

over thick green

climbing over itself

to reach up 

and pull 

the heavy down. 

Ok, that’ll do.

 

I like to smile at the other whiteys up here

as we pass each

other on 

our little vehicles. 

They give me nothing. 

So I smile my hello

with even more intent. 

They hate to be outed as just 

another tourist.

Calm down, whitey. 

We all know. We see that you’re a tourist,

that I’m a tourist, 

that we’re in Thailand with the Thais;

let’s all just smile at one another,

for there’s nothin’ to do but enjoy the ride

up all the Samoeng Forests 

of our lives. 

 

But I do 

love to play

on bein’ an Aussie. 

I keep the handlebar and the tan and the tats

to remind ‘em all. 

I love it more and more

the older I get. 

I allow myself that bullshit.

 

And I let me love the view

and I ready up ‘Khe Sanh’ 

as we pack the scooter up

then descend

within a green now known

by touches of orange 

and splatters of calm.