SOUP IN DA BIG POT 

It’s nevah wat it is

wen you tink of wat it should be.

Da cast of many characters

dat going appear before your eyes

got dere own ideas

as to how da soup in da big pot

going be cooked.

Everybody grabs da ladle

and dishes out wun daily bowl

dat changes its recipe

from one day to da next.

Some people slurp

and adah guys spoon it down                                                                                                  

       like hungry pigs

while all the veggies, meat, and broth,

simmering on da communal stove,

is constantly being added to

wit all kine new ingredients.

If you tink

you wuz going be wun master chef

dat wuz going impose                                                                      

                                             your specific tastes on wun public menu

den moa bettah                                                                                                                              you keep your seasonings

in your own private kitchen.

It’s nevah wat it is

wen you tink of wat it should be

cause wen people gaddah eat

dey going bring anyting                                                                             

                                   and everyting to da table.

DA DAILY MINUTIA

You going get boulders in your eyes

and you going be transformed

into wun block of granite

if you no watch out.

Da composition of tings

going change ovahnight

and da density of da world

going be weighed in tons.

Your possible fate is not unique dough

cause instant monoliths are everywheah

as if dey wuz cut out in wun flash

from wun sorcerer’s magic quarry.

Avoidance is da key

and da trick in dis whole survival game

is not to get too heavy

wen pressure seems to become relentless.

No let da daily minutia

turn into wun threatening Medusa

cause all of dose writhing snakes

surrounding dat face of imminent doom

want to celebrate and hiss

wen da gaze of stone is set on you.

Joe Balaz writes in Hawaiian Islands Pidgin (Hawai’i Creole English).  He is theauthor of Pidgin Eye and the editor of Ho’omanoa: An Anthology of Contemporary Hawaiian Literature.  He presently lives in Cleveland, Ohio.