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increase
decreaseOh, to be in England
Now that April's there,
And whoever wakes in England
Sees, some morning, unaware,
That the lowest boughs and the brushwood sheaf
Round the elm-tree bole are in tiny leaf,
While the chaffinch sings on the orchard bough
In England - now!
Robert Browning
Oh, to be in Thailand
Now that high season’s there,
And whoever wakes in Thailand
Sees, some morning, unaware,
That the head of a Thai girl is on his pillow,
And her body lies like a slender willow,
While the morning light sits on her brow
In Thailand - now!
And later when the summer follows,
And bargirls part from their Apollos
And go back to their families in Isaan,
You’ll see a girl in the Sukhumvit
Walking hand in hand with farang lover.
She sings a Thai song, then she hums it -
That's the wise girl; she sings each song twice over,
Lest you should think she never could recapture
The first fine careless rapture!
And in the ruudu fon (season of rain),
She shelters, playing pool, then comes outside again,
Laughing with her friends, giving farangs the come on -
Far better this tawdry English woman!
© Bangkok Byron, 2007. All rights reserved by the author.
From ‘The Monger’s Golden Treasury’
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