Pattaya Inferno. Canto II

L'amico mio, e non de la ventura,
   ne la diserta piaggia è impedito
sì nel cammin, che vòlt' è per paura;

The lift stopped when it reached the 13^th floor
   And opened for an elderly farang
Who hesitated just outside the door.

   ‘Up or down?’ he asked, and with a pang
I answered, ‘Up,’ then turned my back on him –
   I didn’t want to talk to any man.

‘Are you OK?’ he asked as he came in,
   ‘You look stressed out – if you don’t mind me saying.’
‘It’s a long story. Where shall I begin…?’

   I stopped and wondered why I was betraying
My secrets to a stranger – what the hell –
   ‘I loved a girl called Lek – and now I’m paying…’

‘I’ve heard it all before – no need to tell
   Me more. My name is Dante, by the way.
I’ve suffered from a broken heart as well,

   But ease the pain by singing it away.’
‘Oh, you’re a singer?’ ‘No, I am a poet.
   Perhaps you’ve heard of me?’ ‘Please say

Your name again.’ ‘Dante.’ ‘I know it.
   You write on Thailand forums about Nana
Plaza and Pattaya bargirls.’ ‘No, it

   Is not me you’re thinking of, but Dana.
My medium is Italian poetry,
   My homeland, the Italian campana.
 
I sing of Heaven and Hell and Purgatory
   In my best poem: ‘The Comedy Divine’,
And this place seems a bit like hell to me.’

   ‘Languages are not much in my line.
I failed at French in school, and can’t speak Thai –
   However, your conclusions are like mine:

It seemed like heaven at first, I don’t know why.
   Perhaps because my every dream came true –
So many girls – I lived life on a high –

   But soon I wearied, as we all must do,
When glutted, so I looked for love instead,
   In the wrong places – the best bars I knew.

And then I found, just like the adage said,
   That you can take a girl out of the bar,
But she can’t get the bar out of her head.’

   ‘Is that the reason,’ he said, ‘that you are
Heading for the 14^th floor?’ ‘I’ll tell
   The truth. I am, and guess what – I don’t care!’

‘If you jump, you’ll really be in hell!
   That’s where suicides go – didn’t you know?’
‘I don’t believe in that stuff, so farewell!’

   He gripped my arm and said to me, ‘Let’s go
To Walking Street and have a drink and chat –
   Maybe you’ll change your mind, you never know.

And maybe if you face your fear – go back
   To the inferno where your problem started,
Your future prospects may not seem so black.’

   The truth be told, I was feeling faint-hearted,
About the jump that waited just outside,
   And so I felt relieved when he restarted

The lift, downwards, and said he’d be my guide.

© Bangkok Byron, 2007. All rights reserved by the author.