Place of Death

Patricia Conwell has made a chunk of change with her Medical Examiner (Kate) character. Manner of death .

In Vietnam, it’s the place of death that matters.

If one dies in a street accident, the casket will be placed out on the sidewalk for the three-day mourning.

You can always learn something new here.

Meals are served hot, way hot (hot-pot). Fish in clay pot, also hot.

The weather is also hot. If you added spices like “ot hiem” (baby hot pepper), you might as well take a steam bath.

Back to highway of hell.

Highway 1A, the main road that connects North-South (like Hwy 5 and 95 in the States) see traffic at all hours: containers, scooters and buses.

Choke point and flash point.

Don’t cross the river if you can’t swim the tide.

Don’t cross that highway if you want to be buried indoors.

The Medical Examiner offices here are sure busier than Conwell’s Richmond’s morgue.

I told myself  I prefer cremation, then have ashes scattered into the seven seas.

That way, I am a world traveler, in life or in death.

In giving up my comfort, I find my living.

In perpetual motion, I find my balance.

Life itself is in motion, especially for those whose last minutes were spent on the highway.

May they rest in peace, while their bodies are on display on the sidewalk, outside their houses for the last glimpse at traffic, their Place of Death.