Look Ma, I'm a Writer!

An example of irony:

When it rained
on their parade,

the Marxists
sought sanctuary
inside McDonald's.


*SONA 27 July 2009

Once a year,
the Emperor
speaks in front of
the people.

The Emperor rambles on
about how good
the year was,
and how the next year
could be better.

The people
(are supposed to)
listen when
the Emperor says that

the coffers are
slowly filling up;
the Empire's crime
rate has dropped; the laborers
are generally happy
with their wages;
and anything else
that would
make the Emperor look
good.

Yet the people know that
these are all lies,
and that the Emperor
is rambling on
like an idiot.

Good thing these people
are not the French.
The last time they
got fed up,
they sent their
rulers' heads rolling
into the guillotine basket.


*written Sunday, 19 July 2009 for Ugnayan ng Nagkakaisang Artista (UNA)
also published in Kalasag

It has been quite
some time now since
the King has left
the building,

but the janitors still
have their hands
full trying to
clean the track
marks off
the floor, from
all the people trying to
moonwalk across
the lobby.

During the day,
this is a waiting shed.
When nighttime comes,
it becomes someone's bed.

The first time I sunk
my teeth on some
prime, first-
class steak,

I imagined that this was how
Homo erectus must have
felt upon tasting
the meat of the mighty
bison, after he had
finally mastered fire.

(Fact: a bullet is harm-
less outside
its chamber)

This is how to assemble
an Amaru .357:

First, combine the bolt¹ and the carrier².
¹bolt─the mind:
produces theory,
which is our thesis
²carrier─the flesh of the word;
manifested as practice,
the antithesis

Insert the combined³ bolt and carrier, and push the handle⁴ forward.
³combined─theory and practice
becomes concrete
action
⁴handle─the next thesis
must be pushed
forward to create
a new contradiction

Align the hammer⁵ with the trigger⁶.
⁵hammer─the conscience
must be aligned with the
⁶trigger─the decision
to produce morals

Pull up the lock-on spring guide⁷, which allows you to put the cover⁸ back on the chamber⁹.
⁷lock-on spring guide,
to keep us in line
⁸cover─criticism
of others about you,
placed over the
⁹chamber─self-
criticism: what you think
about yourself

Then insert a fully-loaded magazine¹⁰, unlatch¹¹ the safety¹², and cock¹³ the handle.
¹⁰magazine─fully-loaded
arms of the people’s warrior.
To follow it, we must
¹¹unlatch─detach:
separate oneself from
¹²safety─the family, the way of life
must be left
behind with-
out looking back.
¹³cock─get ready
for the next contradiction

The Amaru.357 is a gift
from Cuba to the Philippines (one sister to another)
two daughters of Mother Spain
forced into marriage to a bald-eagled redneck
for a dowry of twenty million dollars.

It was the same weapon used by Cuba to shoot her husband, formalizing the divorce.


*Filipino version here


*circa 24 Mar 2006