I am travelling home for Christmas
With a taxi driver who knows everything
And he reveals way too much.
Within seconds he is recounting tales
Of his excesses in the East
Things that’d make my toes curl
And normally I’d be uncomfortable
But it is Christmas
And I don’t need to know him.
He is the first person I have spoken to
Since getting off the train
And he has a Somerset accent
And I’m home.
Until,
Slowing at the lights
he points out a flaking lamppost.
Some frosted flowers
Peeling
Out of a grubby yellow bucket.
He chuckles.
“See that?”
Leans in.
“Two lads, 19, out on the lash,
Causing trouble after hours,
Pasted by a truck.
Fucking kids, eh?”
The drive continues
And for a moment I could be anywhere
These
Common streets are alien
The nights are getting darker
And I’m alone,
Where a bucket,
some limp garage flowers
And the scorn of a taxi driver
Who used three prostitutes
Whilst in Thailand
Is all that the death
Of two 19 year olds
Deserve.
Comments
chuck | March 8, 2009 - 18:22
Let me guess....he told you prostitution in Thailand isn't the same as it is in England? I wonder if he made it to Pnom Penh? You can shoot a buffalo with a bazooka there. Very popular with the more adventurous backpackers.
gristo | March 8, 2009 - 18:59
Shit! Really? A bazooka? Wow.
I found the taxi driver really uncomfortable. I didn't put it on over christmas as I scribbled this out when I got home but there really is something about hearing your regional accent for the first time in ages and then being appalled by the things coming out of the guys mouth. He probably did go to Pnom Penh. :)
chuck | March 8, 2009 - 19:17
Actually I doubt it. If he only had 3 prostitutes in Bangkok he's probably a novice. Seriously...the sex trade is a mainstay of the Thai economy. A smart girl can work a few years in Bangkok and buy a house. Or get a few boyfriends sending her money....maybe even a husband or two. Of course it doesn't fit in with the Western moral code but Thais tend to be less judgmental than Westerners. Which eliminates the guilt factor.