by Frank Joussen
The setting sun drinks his first
mouthful of wine-colored water
from the hot sea of Bali.
The moon also rises,
her cheeks tainted by too much rouge,
in search of some cheap romance.
O 'Isle of the gods' what sweet sarcasm decreed
to have the fate of global climate
decided upon in this
paradise lost so deliberately,
in such decadent, pecuniary cruelty?
Now the tourists start drinking
while the diplomats go on gambling
and gamblers cannot help but cheat
--even though the whole world was watching.*
*The island of Bali is still famous for its great natural beauty, but much of it has been deliberately destroyed in the name of progress and for the pecuniary needs of a tourist-hungry country; many inhabitants have been displaced to "clear the path" for new hotels, shopping malls etc.
Frank Joussen is a German school teacher. One of his poems has previously appeared in The New Verse News. Others have been published in numerous print magazines, ezines and anthologies,most recently in: Triveni, Poetry Today, Canopy (India), The Boyne Berries (Rep. of Ireland), Big Pond Rumours, Raven Poetry Zine (Canada), Pulsar, The Measure (G.B.) and Poets Against the War (U.S.A.).