and then stood the demon// purple and sour// enclosed in its thousand lights carapace/ in its colourful herd/// its arms as so many freeways/ its bandy pointed legs///// moving crab-like in fabric twinkles/ preying on its  way amongst slow taxis/////// pink/ traffic blue/ green////////////////////////////////

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​no vegetation///// instead an eviscerated jungle/ chlorophyllic centenarians make roots here// this is no vegetation/////// this is life/ this is death/ is sap/ a few ants/// no one can be duped/ we all are accomplice and suave/// tender/ unpredictable//////////// ideas stream out and get swapped like chinese plastics/// blinking/ hairy/ feathered/ soft/ tear-off/ decomposable/ forgettable////Thotsakan chews and ingests// the gong sounds/ the muezzin screams// it is dawn and the streets turn orange/ bright and dim/ unsteady/ in waves// voluminous steel bowls in the hands//////// all is inside out this morning// the streets/ the cars/ all in reverse fashion// it must be like this every night i say// everything but its opposite///// i hear voices/ i hear microphones// taking over my neighbourhood///// who can tell/////////// politicians/ boxing contest/ royal news or flower pots// all could be and all do//

i must find a way to trick this demon/// maybe frontally/ i heard i could make myself much taller than him/// but today i feel prettily lazy///// on my way here i caressed women/ it rose my indulgence to sublime///////////////// a mask bares my teeth// animal/ devoted/ insane/ tenacious/ machinelike// moving slowly/ cunningly/ with the pace of a little monkey// scantily/ frailly/ harmlessly/// i twist/ contort/ grin/ graciously clumsy/// looking for that glance i swore to him i would recognize//

and so i jump in the water/////// Thotsakan recomposes// lying in wait/////// it is dark now///deep black//////////////// not far away trembles the city’s greyness// gurgle the motors of Chao Phraya’s ghosts//// heavy tenebrous sliding silhouettes// buildings in constant run-away// from the golf to higher plateaux/ from the river to the sea//// out throwing loose stones/ black oil// families/// words and faces hostage day and night in monster vessels/ of the tiny struggling tugboat//////////////////////// here he comes again/// up there///// down here///// let them be dragged////////////////////////

meanwhile the flamboyant ones/ going left/ going right// singing head out the same tune//// for the same night every day is taking place/////////// until all of a sudden it changes// from west to east/ from legends to hits//

hey you/ you/ come on// come on board/// we know how to do with you// we’ll swallow you/ regurgitate you////// copy/ transform/ adapt you/// erratically/// always we find a way/// we have people and we have appetite/// nothing sustains// first lure it then digest it/ after we will see///////////////// after we will leave the life/ leave the city// take over/ decompose/ metabolize//// with 10 faces/ with 20 arms/ with our heads on fire//

Thotsakan growls/ acidifies// lets the floor subside/ the wave smother//

flourishing iron spears/ on steel horses/ warriors of the night market// assemble/ disassemble/ carry/ fight/ survive/ unload/ re-assemble/ fix///// scarred heated bodies // lascivious muscles of an endless rehearsal// marked with ink// pierced by a long needle//

this city of yours/ what meat can it swallow///////////// i ask the demon/

smiling// we are unsuspected weapons// we welcome you inside us sincerely// are gluttonous and generous// how and of what to be afraid/

the water is slowly rising/ surely gulping every talang wah of corruption// lust/ lure/ mixture/ plastic miniature/ scriptures/ garnished chicken/ trafficked powders////// the Gods must be jealous of immoderation/

Thotsakan straightens up/ Nang Sida/ from domestic over-protection to rusted steel/ tastes no difference but exquisite//

the demon contracts its members/ giving shape to its costume// depth to colours// strikes trice/// the city in return decomposes/ opens/ dismembers/ cracks/ splits and recomposes/// later/ farther/ otherwise/// the highway slides beneath/ the train engulfs in the tower’s mouth// canals off the ground/ water reopens and spills// all things scatter// higher/ faster/ above/ under// contingently/ fastly// my moto taxi does not wail/// burning shortcuts/ on the coming tide/////////////// not yet inscribed in the drowsy pores