The Poetry Bus - Uiscebot's Odyssey

It's been a while....

Anyway, this week's Poetry Bus prompt comes from Uiscebot.  We were to go somewhere new, experience it and write about it.  There were some other bits as well - and a threat of death if rules were not followed.

I haven't been anywhere new lately (no time) so wrote about a place which was very new to me when I visited it in 2004 - China.  Everywhere we went, hordes of people would appear from nowhere with cries of Hello!  Hello! and try to sell us 'genuine' Rolexes, Chairman Mao watches and other gewgaws.  We nicknamed these folks the Hello People.

The Hello People

Here are the Hello People,
Crowding excitedly round us,
Hemming us in,
As we alight from bus, train or plane.

Here are the Hello People.
All black eyes, outstretched hands
And big false grins
You buy? Very cheap! You buy?

Here are the Hello People.
They hunt in unruly packs
Our fat western wallets
Are their quarry.

Here are the Hello People.
We should buy, shouldn’t we?
Help the struggling poor?
Make them like us.

Make them like us.