PHUKET

Blue sky days brimmed full of sights

Burning bright like the torches

That lit the temple porches.
Together we travelled the island

To and fro,
Climbed hills and stood still
Enough to see the sea’s azure dapples
And dazzling flares of flower petals

Amongst the scenery’s greenery.
We gave some time to gentle faith,
Bowing to Buddha

And somehow winning merit.
Tamed but also troubled by his teaching -
Wisdom from a man revered
And apparently not to be feared.

Too quickly the days that amazed
Began to prepare us for rest.
The sun slipped into the Andaman Sea
Without spilling a drop but sizzling hot.
Tropical dark fell fast like a pantomime curtain.
But the air stayed heat-ridden and steamy,
Wet with wetness from rain that never came.
The lights of bars blocked out the stars
And unlocked passion pits of pleasures paraded,
Frail youth and gender masqueraded
And innocence frayed and faded.
The seedy preyed upon the needy
In a paradise that surely deserved better.
Unless it was the other way round,
As sometimes it seemed to be.