DA
HEAD LIBRARIAN IS WUN POET
Da
head librarian is wun poet.
Metaphorically
speaking
in
da suburban pastures
and
da fenced in meadows of da city
I
stay looking foa Bohemians
dat
should be sprouting like mushrooms—
I
tink I found one.
It’s
not easy to do
cause
in dis metropolis
all I see are institutional ivory
towers
and
other likewise establishments
catering
to artistic big wigs.
I
need some grunge
and
bare knuckles
scraped
raw wit experience.
Da
head librarian
self
published wun book
dat
wuz on wun display table
by
da back door at da library—
I
wen read ‘um.
Den
I wen find
his
impromptu videos on Facebook.
Da
buggah is animated
and
he stay in wun way out orbit
so
dere’s some kine of affinity dere.
I
wrote him wun email
cause
I got his address
from
da information desk
wen
I wen make wun phone call latah.
I
wuz investigating
his
existence on da local scene.
Funny
ting
he
wen do da same ting
and
he did wun online check on me.
As
foa now
dats
as far as it goes
cause
me and him
are
like two independent mosquitoes
buzzing
da same ears
of
wun big Cleveland cash cow.
Metaphorically
speaking again
I
can see it standing
out
dere in da fields
wun
humungous golden calf
dat
all da academics
are
dancing circles around.
Beneath
da wise sacred mountain
of
muse and plenty
in
northeast Ohio and beyond
got
all kine different voices
doing
various and interesting tings.
Still
yet all da academics dance
wit
dere shiny grants and credentials
as
dey scratch dere own backs
and
toss flowers at da hooves
of
da big gleaming bovine.
It’s
wun good ting
dat
grass is free
cause
anybody can munch on it
and
nourish anyting dey like.
LIMITATION
SCALE
Keep
looking up to da rafters
cause
you going see
wun
slam dunk extravaganza.
Somebody
should have warned you
cause
it’s no fun
being
da tallest midget on da basketball court
wen
da seven-footer walks in.
No
contest.
No
trophy.
No
certificate of participation.
Only
wun idiot will stay and fight
wen
warriors run foa da hills.
Bravado
and self-confidence is admirable
but
dere’s wun limitation scale
dat
you got to pay attention to
adahwise
you going get squashed
like
wun bug.
No
try be
wat
you tink you see
while
you take off
on
dose flights of fancy.
Dere’s
wun reason
dat
reality is filled wit cuts and bruises
cause
it’s hard and unforgiving
wen
you end up falling on your face.
EASY
MONEY
Before
you sell da farm
to
get in on da ground level
make
sure you know wat you buying.
Wat
you may tink is wun great bargain
offered
in heartfelt sincerity
could
actually be wun beautifully designed rug
placed
ovah wen deep dark hole.
Watch
your step
cause
da shifty dealer certainly is.
All
of da tricky methods
are
incorporated
into
wun greater shell game.
Some
choice too—
It’s
like picking between
flesh
eating bacteria, Ebola,
or
wun non-existent pea
dat
will make your arms and legs disappear
along
wit your purse or wallet.
Potentiality
always
glitters like shiny gold
but
dats wheah
you
really have to pay attention
cause
hard earned cash to most people
can
be easy money to somebody else.
Joe
Balaz writes in Hawaiian Islands Pidgin (Hawai'i Creole English) and in
American English.
He
edited Ho'omanoa: An Anthology of Contemporary Hawaiian Literature. Some of his recent Pidgin
writing has appeared in Unlikely Stories Mark V, Otoliths, Tuck Magazine, and
Heavy
Feather Review, among others. Balaz is
an avid supporter of Hawaiian Islands Pidgin writing in the expanding context
of World Literature. He presently lives
in Cleveland, Ohio.