Len Webster's 'Onion Field: The Morning After' Poem by Len Webster

Sitting on the edge of an onion field
Watching a series of sailing heads
Rising and falling out of unison, but vigilantly,
Is like watching the rhythm of a barmaid's movements
In the lounge bar back home,
Thoughts of the bulbous and perpendicular
Informing a desire that lies beneath a surface.
In the lounge bar, hidden from a white winter,
The drinks flow, the electronic instruments measuring the cost.
Last night, here, too, the drinks flowed at the TAMBOON
That stopped the traffic with dancing
On the road leading to the new clinic,
Paper notes pinned to trees
Primed for the purpose,
KOW LAEW and Mekhong strong and promising,
Until hands together and heads bowed
The blessing. For more than this morning after.


- Chiang Mai Province,1996



* TAMBOON: merit-making (event)
* KOW LAEW / Mekhong: types of Thai whisky