More from 'Pattaya Off'

Photograph from 'Pattaya Off' - Juliette De Salle

I witness your illusions of celebration

Passing through, detached

Discarded stools at infinite bars

Alcohol drowning spirits

I am saddened

The harsh reality of daylight

Penetrates your façade

Sickens me

I seek out signs of joy

Hoping to be wrong

Hoping that some spark of happiness

Triumphed here

But I find only remnants of loneliness

A waste of time

The masks of contentment have been shed

The pretension to delight and exhilaration

Revealed for what they are

Ethereal, unattainable

Empty promises now pathetic

I witness only the degradation of humanity

No shout or scream

Can give meaning to this nauseating madness

I’m lost and afraid.