Canal

Where the one or two story and the striving mid-rise

Stand in a state of obsequious genuflection to the new kids,

Those confused high-rises of shape and colors that defy reason,

Merely wishing to strut a new dress in high heels.

Massage parlors, shoulders touching, squeeze

Between the car repair lot, the three story apartment building,

And the new status office or condominium behemoths.

Broken pieces of sidewalk attest to the confusion.

An infallible measure of optimism, cranes

Mark the transition that as yet appears tenuous,

As though the inevitable victory of "market forces"

Is not yet vouchsafed.

Bangkok is a city on the make.

Its brand of soft capitalism

Asks for seduction rather than domination,

Hoping her choices will allow for progress.