Laos – 1
Evading the spruiking taxi drivers
I find myself on a lonely corner
outside the airport
Out of nowhere
a tuk-tuk appears
the engine sounds of popping bubbles
He spots me before I spot him
pulls over
lifts my bags onto the rear seat
We putter down a riverside lane
the Mekong black, turquoise, green
a temple or spa on every corner
Overtaken by women motorcyclists
one hand on the bars
the other holding umbrellas
to block the skin-darkening sun
Tailless cats in the hotel driveway
the receptionist chanting “sabai dii”
hands pressed together as if in prayer
geckos chase mosquitoes across the walls
over the road, a bar, blasting out Led Zeppelin
—-
Copyright Mike Hopkins 2018
Image: Ilya P
About NaPoWriMo
(Some / most of these could be rightly described as “chopped up text”. But that’s how first drafts often look.)
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