BOLIVIA: FIRST TAKE

Mud caked roads. A woman shouting at the border
Guard, saying she wouldn’t pay a 2 Real bribe.
Money changers under your nose. A taxi driver
With an English car, steering wheel ripped out and stuck
On the left hand side, speedometer staring at
The passenger, reading zero. He talks non-stop.
About the gringo he worked for years ago who taught
Him how to work and seduced the local women.

The station manned by twin teenage paramilitaries,
White helmets, white truncheons, guns. The waiting room a
Minimal, spartan model: plastic chairs, bare walls,
Strip lighting, flickering TV, fire extinguisher.


puerto suarez 29.09.04