Two napkin poems for All Souls’
LONELINESS OF TURTLES
For a drink of water in the middle
Of night but whose thirst is this
I feed with kernel for my lonely
Turtle friend waiting alone
Under the old stair?
Whose whisper do I heed
In wrapping a sampaguita garland
Around the neck of my brown saint?
There’s the horde of the cold and hungry
Feeding on garbage out in our dirty streets
Drug killings a great go-go in all kinds of weather
The blind beggar Bernie waits
Everyday outside the generic pharmacy
There’s also the lizard waiting
For its share of leftover rice
In its own dark corner
Don’t fear or worry, my friend
It’s on with the show
We have old fools left
Out here who love turtles
ATOMIC NEWS
There’s a bit of news from the Internet
About a killing somewhere in Europe
It’s unbelievable, to say the least:
A mother killed her 5-year-old son
After she found out the angel
Had lost his new pair of shoes
This is not madness or cruelty, no.
It’s no longer that simple, the evil piece
Had been pulled out the same day.
Don’t ask me why, it only
Means that symbol or shocker
Whether the lost pair was bought on cash
Or credit. Fake news, whatever. That bitter
Item showed this loveless world
Is coming to an end.
