Copyright Jeremy Bishop
GREMLINS IN DA CLOUDS
Wen practices and principles
are two different tings
dere’s always wun big problem
in wat is actually being aspired to.
Da press secretary is deflecting
so many pertinent questions
dat you could almost visualize
da force field dat surrounds him.
Maybe Darth Vader
is one of his heroes.
As da amplified voice
tries to explain da unexplainable
it becomes quite apparent
dat its wun scary new world
of strange robots and rewired circuitry.
Da baritone oratory
resonates in its lower octaves
and media alarms start to go off.
Rumors are now going around
dat white body armored storm troopers
are searching da entire empire
in dere mission
to apprehend wun very important woman.
Dey accuse her
of running and hiding
but she’s in plain view
foa every citizen to see.
You really have to admire
wat she stands for.
It takes wun strong constitution
and wun sense of purpose
to heroically hold up dat torch each day.
So as you contemplate dat realization
just be careful of wat you wish foa
wen you wish foa change
cause now
dere’s suddenly gremlins in da clouds
and industrialized cool aid
is beginning to fall like rain.
STANDING ON DA SUMMIT
If I had to uncover
some kine of redeeming quality
it would be dat your dominating nature
is like predation on enhancement drugs.
Efficient, yes,
but wholeheartedly brutal.
I’ll point dat out anyway
even as I let you know
dat I’m intrigued
by da individualistic aspect
of your capitalistic intent.
Some compassion
sprinkled on da surface would be nice
but I guess dat goes against
all of your corporate tendencies.
It’s not like I’m pulling up
da red carpet before you
da one on which
you dropped your own rose petals
to make wun greater impression.
Dough I do want to mention
dat da flanking lines of trumpets
and da exaggerated crowds in da wings
is somewat ovah da top.
But den again
dere can be only one egomaniac
standing on da summit.
I’ll agree wit you
dat you have revealed
areas of undiscovered sky
high above you in wun vast firmament.
Good luck wit sticking
all of your gold stars up deah.
It’s just dat
it might not be as simple
as decorating
wun kindergarten achievement chart
DA MACHINERY STAY BROKEN
If dey really gave people
wun fair shot
den maybe dere wouldn’t be so many
imaginary bullet holes
in da government’s stifling agenda—
Gratitude nevah radicalized anybody.
Emblematic guns not going be blazing
if da upset guy
behind da fantasized rifle
wuz warm and friendly.
Nobody going be carrying protest signs
and shouting down da power play
if everyting wuz copasetic.
Da machinery stay broken
in da political con game
and expecting insiders to fix it
is like tinking you going hit wun jackpot
witout evah putting numbers into da game.
Wun social upheaval
is hoping to challenge da status quo
and some people get uncomfortable
but dats wat it’s going to take
if you really want to change tings.
Democracy
or wats left of it
shouldn’t be smothered
by unchecked hands of dirty fingahs
pressing down
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, 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.
