s/he is a tease,
a bee swaying amongst spring blooms -
sweet as maple syrup / peaches / red apples -
while munching over a bagel and Timmy's coffee
and thinking of lunch menu-
biting into a subway-sandwich-
or using chopsticks/ Chinese noodles / tropical spices -
there are choices to make everyday-
and over missing deadlines or near-misses, hurls
some people to pills or crack cocaine - i hear on radio-
depression hurts / everywhere / everyone - (this puzzles me)
faraway, in another world, they gossip on politics-
s/he is a whore, plump ass, wet with thoughts of power-
buying election votes, keep the poor ignorant & helpless-
the family rules/ breaking promises / unending greed -
while sharing pan-de-sal & black coffee
and thinking of a meal, if it comes
maybe a corn, a sweet potato, a coconut
along the beach / unspoiled / forgotten gem -
when there's only two choices -
to make it for another day or be cast away
like papaya seeds on dry blackened soil -
they take the bribe money/ swallow anything- (i don't blame them)
the world spins / my heart bleeds / motherland
Posted for D'verse Poets Pub - Poetics - Hosted by Kelvin S.M. - Talking about an asian experience, more like another lifetime for me ~ This is a personal write for me, Kelvin ~
picture credit: here
whew...what a write grace...it was like popcorn going this way and that but you kept it all moving in one direction...rather liking the food, rather proficient with the chop sticks...lots of craziness in our world...but it comes down to choice...do we want to be swept away in it or...
ReplyDeleteIt's a take on two different worlds, certainly a world away from where I am ~ I agree with you on the choices, some people are just willing to be swept away with the currents ~ Thanks for the visit ~
ReplyDeletePolitics...be it any country,,,,has the same face....
ReplyDeleteThe irony of it ~ Thanks for the visit Vandana ~
Deletesuch vivid language--images clashing--the casual and the vital--wow!
ReplyDeleteThank you ~
DeleteThis is great as as putting the two worlds so different apart, but yet are they so different... corruption goes many ways. The style I really like, almost like a puzzle.. that's great and a lot of imagination.
ReplyDeleteNot really different after all, we have our own corruption stories ~ Thanks Bjorn ~
DeleteThis poem gave me chills, Grace. The choices of making it for another day or being cast away ...... one has to make it somehow. Even if it (sadly) means bribe money. People have to live. Our hearts bleed for so many. We cannot judge sometime, as we don't know the whole story, the why's, how hard it is just to live.
ReplyDeleteI don't judge Mary as I know money is money, food is food ~ I know the background story but I bleed for the people impoverished by so much greed ~ Thanks for the lovely comments ~
DeleteWe are hardened by the demagogues & feudal lords who overshadow our lives; rail against the injustice, the butchery, ignorance, evil, that plagues every corner of our minds & globe, yet our hearts still have access for the con or heartbreak; for we are one large noisy family, and must honor blood over rubbles.
ReplyDeleteSadly there are feudal lords, here and afar ~ Thank you for the lovely comments Glenn ~
Deletecool how you write on two so different worlds and how they connect on certain points as well...cool details and images like the papaya seeds on blackened soil
ReplyDeleteThank you Claudia ~
Deletegorgeous, Grace, and I love the picture too! Lovely illustration!
ReplyDeleteThanks Dezzy ~
Delete...what can you expect Grace? ...you are not alone with your rants & agonies... i had same issues back here at my end too... sad to think how both the world & people are getting worser in almost everything generation after generation... exercise your power & right to vote was widely advertised but, how pathetic, not all could get the real essence behind it... why we're doing this... and why we shouldn't do that... people have chosen to be ignorant even if they were all fully aware of the truth for they believed nothing would change in a world dominated by alligators & pigs.... the thought alone made it more impossible to achieve change... you said you are disappointed with the result of elections here...well i am more disappointed too... sobra... feeling ko nag-aksaya lng ako ng time bumoto... nagastusan pa ako pauwi ng province... haaay.... without a change in heart... there will def no decent change to effect in the world... you really poured out your heart in this Grace... your words speak for you... smiles... you have great details well layered here... loved it...
ReplyDeleteMy eldest son said afterwards, how ashamed he was of the results like we didn't learn anything as a people ~ I am thankful for the freedom to vote, because we fought for this one too, but sadly we have not used it well ~ Thanks for the lovely challenge Kelvin and have a lovely weekend ~
Delete...the idea to gain freedom in voting is indeed wise... too bad only few these days can live up to the challenge of being wise enough in applying it... for most they think election day is just a mere holiday... a rather duplicate of April fools day... ha...
DeleteYeah those at the top are the crop that would see all flop just so another dollar in their pocket could flop, sad but true.
ReplyDeletewow, this is really fine, i read it five times and found something new each time. marvelous.
ReplyDeleteWalking in someone else's shoes ... how else to judge? Here. There. Far away. Touching the shore or not, after the boat. I really believe in Democracy which has so much more to offer than the vote, but starts there. I am not sure what events are behind your poem, but it haunts me with its disappointment and sense of helplessness.
ReplyDeletePolitics is one that is way out. Our recent one (May 05,2013) was worked up to a frenzy where the social media and cyberspace were fully utilized and abused even.It got frightening, rightly so! Nicely Grace!
ReplyDeleteHank
A very creative verse, how you connect the dots... what brings us together...thinking about the same issues we all face regardless of where we live. I think there is a collective feeling of "what can we do to change things?" all over the world but how is the next question. Loved how you tackled this prompt with such a strong poetic voice.
ReplyDeleteSome places one almost needs to be schooled in the etiquette of bribery and corruption to get along, but those of us who who cling to innocence, should make sure we also cling to one another. Your words are much appreciated Grace.
ReplyDeleteThe last three full stanzas are my favorites.
ReplyDeleteGrace, you socked it straight to my heart. When the choice is survival, to make it for another day - the pain of your line "the world spins / my heart bleeds / motherland". I felt it. It does hurt, the imbalances created by greed and power resulting in such terrible poverty. A fantastic write, straight to the heart.
ReplyDeleteThere is bribery and corruption enormous gap between the mega rich and the poor and so many curtailments of personal freedom...having said this my neighbours who have a dirt floor laugh sing and seem to enjoy their simple lives much more than my other neighbours here in the west.
ReplyDeleteWe are missing a dimension that they have retained...I call it real wealth. I cannot conceive not having a connection and contact with them. I have been away for 7 months the longest for years The money we spend on manicures and lattes could educate a family for 2 years. Our freedoms have not brought us happiness. We are obscene, self indulgent and the waste we generate is disgraceful!
the contrast makes our weigth seem so much lighter.
ReplyDeleteThis is wonderful Heaven, really puts me in the mood for travelling myself, once in a lifetime experiences are so special, I guess that's what makes them once in a lifetime.
ReplyDeleteFantastic! Love the contrasts in this.
ReplyDelete"cast away
ReplyDeletelike papaya seeds on dry blackened soil -"
strong imagery--sweet, moist vs. arid; life-producing vs. barren. Your whole piece is a wonderful presentation of contrasts on different levels.
Grace, I enjoyed all the sensory details you included in this...tantalizing my sense of taste, smell...all of them. I felt like I was there.
ReplyDelete"the world spins / my heart bleeds / motherland"
ReplyDeleteThis ties it all nicely. Says it all.
This leaves me frustrated about nothing in the world being pure or fair. I could feel your reluctant acceptance, but I got stuck in my everyday outrage. I had been thinking today about religion and politics being the result of the needs of many to submit to the needs of the few to dominate. All this science, all this power, all these luxuries big and small yet children still go hungry.
ReplyDeleteI like your juxtaposition of lives in Canada, on the one hand, and in the Philippines, on the other. Like you, I am not pleased with the results of the elections. We are really having a difficult time changing the system.
ReplyDeleteVery well said! Its a matter of choice, typically of to be or not to be, to do or not do, wherever it is, whoever you are!
ReplyDeleteI long to have this kind of world that can separate me temporarily from my problems and worries.
ReplyDeleteThe grace of the writing is palpable - but what made me re-read the poem is the technique, the slashes within lines that suggest alternate readings. I'm not sure how you meant these, but the suggestion of divergent readings is such an amazing play on the language, that I had to point it out. Beautiful work.
ReplyDelete