The Gods of Thailand

Happy gathering, happy feast, 
Givers of plenty, giving freely, giving joyfully, 
Celebrating a reunion of family, a flowering 
Generation, a stampede of boys and Americans 
Eating all they can while the glass plate turns. 
Everyone has their own station, receiving 
What was left by others on a wheel of compassion,  

Divine merits that erode the western  

Stone, built out of duty to some 
Forgotten practice.  Smiles and laughter 
Drown out the despair of otherwise modern 
City derailments; the poverty, the monotony, 
The traffic of Business- our grand Napoleon- 
All awash in the glow of a carefree philosophy 
That champions love over commerce, 
Luxury over time, faith over certainty. 
 
In Thailand, the Gods are remembered. 
They protect their people from hostile forces, 
Who were never embittered by colonialism, 
Who were immune to the doctrines of labor, 
Who meditated so well on their teachings 
That they were never forsaken to foreign 
Elements, despite their great city being 
Modeled on systematic edicts.  A less adaptable  

Civilization would have crumbled 
Under the weight of the west, like the many 
Disenchanted scarecrows dangling in the wind.