I leave the rowdy, noisy bars of Koh Samui
for the quiet of Koh Phan Ngan
where there is no place to sleep
on the fifth day of Xmas in paradise
The government posts the following:
All full, free beds, showers
next to the police station

Jim, the crusty good humored Englishman
and his agreeable wife, Choi
take me in for a few baat a night
as strains of Satchmo's coronet
drift across the harbor

Thai sun bakes white
sandy beach with its'
barking dogs patrolling
among the tall palms

A big mangy one with dangling balls
is boss of the beach
He sniffs and lifts his hind leg
anywhere he wants, without challenge
from the smaller dogs who fear his jaws
and only bark and bluff
before scurrying away

Yellow lantern sun slowly collapses
into shimmering green sea

Swinging and swaying on my hammock
on the porch of my bungalow on the beach
swinging and swaying without a care
as time stands still
grey, blue sky, sea birds and soft sand
swinging and swaying to ebb and flow
of wind and sea

Strutting roosters and barking dogs
wake me in the morning
to another day of noodles, fish and beer
swimming, swinging and swaying

On the beach of Ko Phan Ngan
the black mocking bird whistles
a warning to tomas

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