He's looking for someone
to fix his rage on.
I don't know what
his criteria are but
hope I don't meet them.
Heās in a desert of
non-feeling till he
discovers an object
to lock on and unload.
Till then thereās just
him and that unfixed rage
and, far, far down
where it wonāt be discovered,
a deep and nameless sorrow.
October 10, 2000
Where sainthood
and madness meet
there comes
an orgasm of the soul.
picked up a few words during the day. The drive to Sukothai from Phitsanulok lasted about an hour, on good roads.
Sukothai is regarded as the first Thai kingdom, dating to the 13th and 14th centuries. Today it is an extensive historical ruin and a UNESCO Word Heritage site. The site was stunning: a complex of temples in beautifully maintained surroundings, including lakes and islands. The ruins are extensive, and we wandered from one site to the next: Wat Mahathat at the center of the city, a wonderful chedi embellished with carved elephant heads, the statue and bell of King Ramkhamhaeng. At lunch we stopped at a market in the park to eat and to shop Š beautiful weavings, embroideries, and other handicrafts - and Chow gave me some sweet, delicious lonton to try.
Chow seemed to understand that I wanted to see
Sukhothai Fifth Wat
everything, and the number of wat at Sukothai is phenomenal. After we had seen those at the center of the complex, we moved farther afield. The temples on the periphery were generally less exciting and well maintained than those toward the center, and eventually we headed back to Phitsanulok.. I arrived back at my hotel in the late afternoon, somewhat tired and my clothes covered with stickers from wandering through a patch of weeds (Chow laughed at me all the way back to the hotel, as I sat in the car trying to pull them out one by one). After the day's adventures, a few stickers weren't enough to destroy my mood.
