GOODBYE TO SIT AND CRY

[Note: the author taught English for two years in the Thai town of Nangrong – which means “Sit and Cry”]

by Burgess Needle

                   

Saying goodbye to the town of Sit and Cry

One otherwise uneventful weekday

Except the students all turned out

            Girls in white blouses

            Boys in scout uniforms

And Headmaster Suraporn, of course, straight

            As a recent operation allowed

            To shake my hand with a dry palm

Eyes narrowed by too many mornings

            Facing the sun as the flag was raised

That open-sided bus waited for me once more

            As it had so many times for trips

            To Buriram, Korat or Surin

I wanted to pocket the scent

            Of kerosene wicks from every evening

Save the feel of my mosquito net brushing my face

The taste of ripe bananas sweetened

            With Carnation milk

Hear the temple gong reverberate

Hold an image of a nearby pond

            Nong Tamue beneath pink twilight

            With silhouettes of coconut palms

So sharp against the remaining sky they seemed

            To have been made of cut black paper

I departed as I arrived

            With a driver in blue uniform

            A monk by my side