The Apsara’s 2000 smiles
circle Siem Reap
like a girdle nightly
in the grace of tradition
her daughters dance
in economic hostage
to souvenir hunters
who wield smart phone
cameras like animal traps

some entrapment though
is home-grown, a slew
of scholars consigning
Apsara to Duty Wife
in lifetime service
to the king in heaven

at my hotel the waiter
hungriest for tips
nods yes yes, Duty Wife
and offers to disco
me, my passenger
to his motor bike.
Though my age
doubles his, I do
not call his bluff
all distinctions are
null when face to face
with privilege money.

***

Patricia Sykes is a poet and librettist. Her poems and collections have received various awards and have featured on the ABC’s Poetica and The Spirit of Things. Her collaborations with composer Liza Lim have been performed in Australia, Paris, Germany, Russia, New York and the UK. She was Asialink Writer in Residence Malaysia, 2006. A song cycle by Andrew Aronowicz, based on her poetry collection, The Abbotsford Mysteries, is available as podcast.

P76 issue 9: Poetries of place/ displacement/ diaspora/ odyssey: On-line Edition. Table of Contents

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