Long Lost Lover by Bea Webster

Deaf poet, Bea Webster, performs a poem in British Sign Language about their return to Thailand. Part of Stairs and Whispers: D/deaf and Disabled Poets Write Back (Nine Arches Press, 2017).

TRANSCRIPT

Long Lost Lover by Bea Webster

A yellow dawn breaks on the airport of my childhood
Thick air of spices and warmth and tenderness
Enters my nose and brings out a wave of nostalgia
And here I am, the home of my soul
Don Meuang embraced me like a long lost lover

Over the Temple of the Dawn the sun rises
Where a sea of saffron monks lines up to receive alms
Upon the old Venice of the East
Its ancient routes take me to my family
Bangkok embraced me like a long lost lover

Over the Chao Phraya River the sun shines on its muddy waters
With its Buddha head buried in the tree
From war in times long gone
When it was once showered in golden leaves
Ayutthaya embraced me like a long lost lover

Over the Gulf of Thailand the sea glitters
Hermit crabs make their homes in discarded plastics
Feasting on watermelons from beach combers
Littered with gay streets; tolerated, but no rights
Pattaya embraced me like a long lost lover

Over the hilly rice plains the rain gives life
My mechanical ear picks up clattering, thumping, tapping
And shouts of “Twenty bahts! Cheap! Cheap! Cheap!”
Merchants lay wares of ancient times.
Chiang Mai embraced me like a long lost lover

From the Andaman Sea to the golden plains
The Land of the Smiles always greets me warmly
Even though they see my broken ears and say
That I must have done wrong in my past life
Thailand embraced me like a long lost lover