The Camp of Happiness

a poem by Jan Oskar Hansen

Campo Alegre, in Aruba, is where
Sailors on tank ship to go, drink rum,
Dance and pay dearly for hurried sex.

Where pot bellied pigs grunts and
Grow fat on the residue of love,
In ditches behind huts on stilts.

A haze of roasted meat, booze, fried
Bananas and cheap perfume hides
The stench of this pleasure place.

Where violence lurks in corners and
Dejection await when the music stops
And silence freezes a lonely heart.