Timeshares on Bali, Or: Pregnant Street Dogs Bark in the Night

This is no country for new souls,
A woman a fraction of my size cautions me,
Wordlessly.
She points me toward the “blissful view”
We’ve read about
On the undersides of the coffee tables.
We’re told that stabilizing forces
Are extraneous here.
Relax and enjoy the show.

***
The dead fish, animal waste, and plastic grocery bags
Spatter the beachfront
In an unpretentiously
Erotic display,
As unconvinced of their intimacy
As the pile of rocks those men just hauled
To its soon-to-be embodiment as
Bali’s Newest Tourist Resort.

***
A scrawny she-dog gives birth
In the dank safety of the night market