In Love With A Bar Girl

i'm sitting on the balcony

outside my hotel room in Phuket

listening to the rain fall heavy

 

the incessant bump bump bump

of techno music

somewhere in the night

where bar girls drink tequila

and men are lecherously trying

to sate all their pent up desires....

 

Maeo sleeps soundly

in our big

soft

temporary bed,

her dark satin hair

splayed across the pillow,

her full lips serenely whisper breath,

her eyes at rest behind heavy lids...

 

so different from the

shared madness only months before...

 

everyone thinks i am crazy,

being taken for a ride...

 

if they could only let themselves

crumble in vulnerability for a moment

they would know my joy...

Reviews

[Devons]

A very real, softly-spoken moment captured here which echoes an advent that has a resonance with much of modern life and worldly romance. The Thai bride concept has become more and more prevalent in western society amongst many men that are truly disillusioned with western women. This poem shows a significant sympathy for both sides, and compares the decadence of night life which the girls so often represent and the devoted loveliness of their desire to be freed from the life they've perhaps been forced to live, and finding a man who will save them from it. This comparison is a winning one and contrasts poignantly with the stereotypical view that many on this side of the world cynically take. The Thai girl's culture is significantly different to ours and their attitude towards marriage and love is far more traditional than people and the media allow it to seem, even if it does have the appearance of prostitution - and that's another whole can of worms which one could debate in terms of moral justification...
This is the first piece of writing I have seen on this subject, and so it is refreshing to me. It deals with a very grey moral ground in a very understanding and reasonable fashion, painting a modern romance very subtly and clearly, and with intelligent humanity.

[Hedra Helix]

Wow, I love this. It's so different from the tone of your other works even though its your same voice. Youre somewhere else. It feels even further away than your writes describing the desert around you.

Why do they think youre being taken? If this reads accurate it's the real thing.

[jenniewren (J.W. Bouwma..]

ohhhhh god. j.. this is full of yearning softness, it's simply so exquisite.. i want to say so much more than my stupid cell phone will allow. i love this.. it feels decadently nostalgic and even innocent in its tone.. one of my favourites j..