Hat Rin at two in the morning — ten thousand people
Fire dancers working the waterline till the tide comes in
Somsak's got a plastic chair just left of the chaos
Three hundred Full Moons and he doesn't watch the spin
Somebody put a warm Red Bull in his hand he didn't ask for
Same blue shirt from the previous Tuesday
I found a stool at the quiet end of the counter
And ordered something cheap enough to stay where you are
"Sanuk, sanuk" — bar's full of people saying it
Hands in the air, bass drum louder than it has to be
Somsak looks at his phone, puts it in his pocket
Then looks at the water, then at his phone again
Mai pen rai, he says — doesn't matter, doesn't matter
But it does, you can tell it does
Sanuk — they keep saying it, have fun, have fun
Somsak's got a different kind of fun in mind
I asked how long he'd been running the place
Somsak said "Long time" and checked his phone again
Said "Youngest daughter apply engineering school — Chiang Mai"
Her name written small on a receipt by the register
He says it like a man naming weather
But his thumb keeps rubbing the ink clean
Three hundred Full Moons and none of them mattered
The way this particular text message might
Her mother's photo taped by the bottle shelf
Corners curled from the salt and heat
Somsak turns it straight every half hour
Then pretends he needed something underneath
A German kid asks for another bucket
A Brit wants credit, swears he'll pay
Somsak says "Tomorrow, tomorrow" out loud
Then whispers "Please today"
Mai pen rai, he says — doesn't matter, doesn't matter
But it does, you can tell it does
Sanuk — they keep saying it, have fun, have fun
Somsak's got a different kind of fun in mind
At three-oh-seven the phone lit up
Just a bank ad, nothing more
Somsak laughed once through his nose
Set it face down on the floor
I said "She'll call" — then hated
How cheap that sounded in the air
Somsak nodded like a man being kind
To somebody trying to care
Mai pen rai, he says — doesn't matter, doesn't matter
But it does, you can tell it does
Sanuk — they keep saying it, have fun, have fun
Somsak's got a different kind of fun in mind
Around four the fire dancers packed up
A rooster crowed behind the taxi stand
Like the island had a countryside
Somsak checked his phone one final time and stood
Then the phone buzzed once on the counter
Somsak stared before he read
Put one hand flat on the plywood
Covered his mouth with the other
Didn't cheer — didn't wake the cooks
Just straightened her mother's photo
Wrote "Chiang Mai" under Nida's name
And sat back down while the whole beach sank into morning