What happened with Nargis ?
Rice bags rode by rotor
4WDs rented at £400
Bogale prices outstripped Inya Road.
What happened with Nargis ?
Holland Beers got salaries
Strand satphones
Sold for a grand.
What happened with Nargis ?
Saltpans were saturated
With saltwater.
It took a hundred thousand people
To create a thousand jobs.
No matter if it was a naga
Or a narcissus
What happened with Nargis ?
Nothing. Nothing’s happened.
Nothing’s been done.
This poem was never published. It expresses his frustration at the disaster economy which grew up around the cyclone, sucking in many ‘Holland Beers’ (volunteers) to work for the international relief effort, who took advantage of the flows of international aid money to get paid jobs and in some cases, cream off the funds made available for relief. As a result of the influx, the price of transport, land in the stricken areas such as the town of Bogale, and the cost of phones used in the outlying areas all sky-rocketed. Yet there was little impact for the victims on the ground.