It's alright Ma, it's only karma
By Poette
- 877 reads
Glass and granite
draw in spry feet from Hondas
which swing round a token water feature
before delivering content.
This is not Japan, but there are real Japanese here,
as reassuring as
the combined lurid glare of Starbucks’
and au bon pain’s shop frontages.
The man on the mat opening doors
scrubs up just about well enough
to be able to deflect any disquieting associations
you hope not to make with his
presumed place of residence,
a room over an open sewer in Khlong Toei,
while others more or less fortunate than he
need not dissemble at all
since they’re curled up foetally
nuzzling pavement schmutz
on the wrong side of Ratchadamnoen Klang.
I can pass by no problem, because this is not India,
but they don’t half-bow like he did.
When I return to my Belsize Park home,
I said I’d stop treading water to help disadvantaged children
or the mentally ill
or something,
-- that would be nice --
but if I don’t, it makes no difference really;
‘cos it’s alright Ma, it’s only karma.
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Comments
yeh, we all need a get-out
yeh, we all need a get-out clause. One of my favourites is 'I worked hard for it'.
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Your contemporary similes
Your contemporary similes work very well.
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