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Third World Boy

from QPT by QPT

/

lyrics

3rd World Boy


It’s raining gently this afternoon, the ever-present drizzle
that rolls in under dark clouds to become a downpour later—
It’s anyjungle,
anywhere,
a typical rainy season day.

Like all the other labor boys,
like his shorter friend next to him,
all he wears is shorts,
trusting the effort of his work
hauling clumps of bananas to market
to keep him warm,
trusting his bare feet to find their purchase
on the wet, hard clay of the road,
better than shoes ever could.

The grey haze of the day
is bright with reflected waterlight
from the road, from the bushes and trees,
from the roofs and walls,
from the puddles in the road,
from the tops of his shoulders.

He carries two banana clumps
to his smaller friend’s one,
on his shoulder, under his arm—
the smaller boy carries his on his head,
bracing it with both hands.
Both their bodies strain with the weight,
more than half their own,
their legs tense and release as they walk,
brown skin slides tautly over hard muscle,
their feet slap the road heavily.
They talk together about nothing,
bright flash of white teeth in the darkness
as they laugh companionably.

(instrumental break)

Steam rises from his body as he passes by,
his work keeping him warm in the rain,
leaving vapor trails behind him
in the drizzle, as he passes.

He works for food,
no more clothing than his rainsoaked shorts
and the blanket he rolls in to sleep.
He’s one good cotton shirt
to wear on formal holidays,
it’s only missing two buttons.
He wears only shorts to work in,
no matter the weather: fewer clothes
to wash later by the riverside.

(instrumental break)

He notices me,
the sexual tourist,
pale in the grey rain,
pale from the northern electric lights,
and smiles at me as passes.
But it’s not enough,
no, it’s never enough.

credits

from QPT, released July 26, 2018

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Arthur Durkee Ann Arbor, Michigan

Arthur Durkee is a composer & songwriter who records & performs on Chapman Stick, bass, analog modular synths, bamboo & wood flutes, keys, frame drums, and voice. He has won awards for composed, notated music as well as for his recordings, & is a published poet, & designer & illustrator. ... more

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