Dear Jane

Miniature man cowering in your Eskimo empire
Mute till the end, is she undeserving of words?
Comfortably preserved, neat and tidy in exile
Marooned on an island of impenetrable ice.

Warrior woman thrive in the discomfort of abandon
Censorship stunts you, love inhabits your land.
Recover yourself gently, Eskimo living's not for you
A gift you've been given so dance freely again.

Bangkok - Weak One

After a long night wrestling sleep I groan in disbelief as the alarm cruelly interrupts my dozing. Although I had the foresight to choose a cheerful Bob Marley song the night before, I now find myself resenting his dulcet nagging as I fall out of bed disgracefully. This morning I jump straight back into the merciless Strike Back schedule, but as I leave the hotel I'm reminded of life outside of fiction by the sounds of protest rising in my consciousness with every waking minute.

The read through comes and goes and spirits are high as we get together for the first time. I take a moment to look around the table and commit to memory the faces that have grown so familiar over the last three years. I feel inexplicably comfortable in this disfunctionality and my heart is squeezed as I find myself drowning in the middle of another 'last'.

The next few days slip by quickly and I'm completely in my element as I push myself to perfect every challenge. But as the week draws to a close, my body is already under a great deal of stress and I feel frustrated and anxious about the lack of time. I decide that a day dedicated to anything non Strike Back is the only remedy, and so I rally the troops to go in search of some soul fodder.

We choose Bangkok's Chatuchak market and jump on the Sky Train to the end of the line and what is apparently the world's largest weekend market (according to Wikipedia). This place is indeed vast and from the perch like position of the station platform, Chatuchuk looks like a sprawling township.

As we descend into the madness I'm endeared by the bewilderment on my companions faces. The bold, sensory overload throws the eyes wide open, and immediately our group is separated as we're each tempted in a different direction by one of the hundreds of food carts that greet us.

The market is made up of an outdoor circuit and a mesmerising indoor bazaar. It feels fictitious in it's magic and I'm totally seduced by the myriad of paths that endlessly twist amongst the unexpected. We avoid the live animal quarter but otherwise amble without direction, occasionally stopping for some fresh coconut water or a Thai beer at one of little bars nestled in the heart of this charming oasis. Our mooching satiated, we head to the outskirts through a wonderful collection of local art, and find ourselves eating yet again before haggling with a tuk tuk driver to take us home.

As I lie in bed recovering from my frenzied ride across town, the fuzziness of the day dissipates and I suddenly feel marooned and a million miles from home. This nomadic lifestyle is rich in adventure but the price tag reads that my life and my love feel unsettlingly distant. I manage to push my melancholy aside and harness my thoughts to the overwhelming demands of the following day. Production begins and in spite of my doubts, I'm determined to conquer in a job that I love.

The sun rises on my first morning in Bangkok