Soliloquy of a Street Kid |
- After Jonathan Mendelsohn
And so it is true.
My shoes are torn and my toes show.
I'm not worried about the toe nails:
Long, hard. They follow nature's law.
People have already noticed me.
An unwanted street decoration.
I see from here where I squat
The sky is dimmed too early,
And children gather to eat ice-cream,
Their fingers chubby, neglectful, white.
I am vacant. They are full.
Listen! Are they gone? Now, the wind.
The wind is movement of air.
It is reciting something. You must believe me.
It recites people's secrets, sex, memories.
I don't want to know.
Tonight, I won't sleep, to match the stars;
And I pray for a quiet night.
Don't send me rain, don't send me men,
Don't send me rhythms or a dirty hand.
Don't.
copyright 2010
Tammy Ho
Lai-Ming |