CITY MEDITATION – BANGKOK
Dogs nap under bus stop benches
Oil covered mechanics squat in engines
A beautiful Ladyboy/Transformed Goddess
dabs smeared makeup with white tissue
Canal boats cut through murky trashed waters
Blue tarps drawn to keep water from splashing
Sandals teeter boat edge as hands hold ropes
Water ride ends
and street walk leads to a temple
walking meditation surrounded by Buddhas
in peaceful shrines
Rooftops overlooking Bangkok laundry
marigold flowers + golden Buddhas
amulets hang from taxi dashboards
Gallery paintings show fine dressed little girls
with blood running down their legs
holding bloody Barbie dolls
with goldfish at their feet
Nang Kwak the Goddess of Luck
embraces her enormous sagging breast
in the middle of the shopping district
On congested street corners mothers beg for change
On a bridge a baby sleeps in a mother’s crossed legs
Homeless blankets unfold into department stores
Coconut ice cream cools damp skin under wet t-shirts
Butterflies dance in dozens on rose apple trees
as ice melts raspberry vodka into pomegranate juice
and a dog named Pepsi adorned with
black Groucho Marks deity eyebrows smiles
Bowls of noodles simmer under upright peace signs
Crumbling walls with generations of smoke-tar molded stains
hold foggy glass pictures of family under shrines proclaiming
Buddha is you
Traffic slows at noon as fish balls roll down throats
laughter pitches high with a mispronounced ka
60 Baht buys
lunch + a yellow-fleshed watermelon
By KM Sharp