Joe Balaz


WEN GEORGE WUZ FIRED



Wen da hammer came down

it felt like Thor wuz da force
behind da hit.

Dats wat wen happen
wen George wuz fired

cause his temper wen screw him up.


Even da strongest levee can break
wen dere’s just too much pressure.

In da end dough
it wuz nobody else’s problem except his.


Da home front and different stresses
wuz inconsequential.

No mattah da circumstances

you are supposed to be wun perfect robot
wen you stay at work.


Bettah keep da mental joints well-oiled
wit self-control and reason

adahwise you going end up
on da scrap heap.


It’s so amazing
how someting so small

could escalate into wun catastrophe.


Wun minor dispute
wit wun workmate

followed by wun shouting match
wit da supervisor

and suddenly da boss is telling you
dat dey no longer require your services.


Too bad George nevah repress
his destructive moves

cause he definitely wen realize
some tings too late

wen he wuz pulling shrapnel out of his psyche
and rethinking da bomb blast.


Dere’s two clichés worth emphasizing
and both of dem are so true

if you give somebody wun reason
foa pulling da trigger—

Nutting is guaranteed
and anyone is expendable.




CONVENIENT EXCUSE



Wit all of your words

you are just hydroplaning
on da asphalt

and choking on da steering wheel.


It’s so ironic
to slide past dat stop sign

and end up ass backwards
on wun dead end street.


Dats wat happens

wen you listen
to telepathic reasoning

from da sudden alien in your head.


Speeding along

you wuz running from
or trying to justify someting.


Maybe if you had calculated
da mileage wit wun abacus

it would have given you
time to tink.


Too late foa dat now—

Wen you shake off da close call
on da rainy highway

you’ll still be headed
in da opposite direction.


Stunned and stalled

your shaky hands
reach foa da ignition.


Dere’s wun point
dat you are journeying away from—

To your soon to be
former partner

your explanation
will simply sound

like wun convenient excuse.




Joe Balaz writes in Hawaiian Islands Pidgin (Hawai'i Creole English) and American-English. He edited Ho'omanoa: An Anthology of Contemporary Hawaiian Literature.

Balaz is an avid supporter of Hawaiian Islands Pidgin writing in the expanding context of World Literature. He presently lives in Ohio.
 
 
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