Notes on the River 8

Voilà! Slums levelled, wharves, boat ramps,
central planning.
Whites, Koreans, Chinese
in cravats and big sombreros
sip their Caiperoskas
in the Foreign Correspondents Club,
the Nikon 1960 meets
Phnom Penh 2008.
The last His Majesty made Super Eight
for weekly banquets.

In the new arcade of palms
the slave-girl folds her fan
and turns on the air-conditioner.

Adam Aitken. Retirado daqui.