It's a crisp Monday morning and we see
Desmond tending to his garden.
And what a beautiful garden it is--
Rows and rows of fairy cabbages,
Ballerina lettuce that dance
In glittering tutus all day, sweet uni-corns.
There are the weeds, of course,
Weeds that get angry when Desmond pulls
Them out by the hair.
But they're blind and cannot see the fate
That await them.
Desmond chucks them into the fire.
Hey! The pumpkins shouted from not far away.
Over here, young master! Our throats are parched
And we need our sparkling cider.
Hey! The sexy orchids cooed from their vines.
We're bored, come and tell us a story.
Hey! The pretty sunflowers called out.
We need our sun, get us away from this shade.
Hey! The sergeant tomatoes growled.
You think you the boss here? We the boss here!
Hey! The sweet peas.
Hey! The potatoes.
Hey! The carrots.
Hey! The purple yams.
There's so much work that needs to be done.
Desmond does not complain.
Down by the south fence, a lone apple tree stands.
Desmond goes over and picks up the rotten apples
Fallen to the ground.
They're bruised all over and they look at him
Without a word.
And because they're useless and good as dead,
Desmond decides to love them the most.
He throws them to the fire together with the weeds.
Good witty poem. You're growing, Han! It's different from what I read from you in the past. Though there's still the _(insert term here-I lack the proper training to identify poetry terms)_ which reminds me of Women On the Pavement. But somehow, Garden Apathy's should-have-been heavy atmosphere was lifted/mitigated a bit by your choice of words. May I ask, what inspires you to compose it?
ReplyDeleteNY: I agree with gmazeroom. The playful words seem like a deception and hides the heavy fact that this piece is about murder and a crime of passion. It's a great children's story, so build on this for a novel now! This also reminds me of an episode in Adventure Time where the Village of Cute people tries to kill Finn and Jake. Btw, any great tv shows and movies you can recommend?
ReplyDeleteThis was actually inspired by a poem called Animal Planet. I had no idea what the poem was about, but I was impressed by it the moment I read "quagga" on the first line and found out that it's nowhere in my dictionary. Anyway, it was a good read, and I thought of doing something on plants instead. The magical garden is also inspired by a short story called The Story Farm, where the farmer plants plots and characters, instead of vegetables, and sells them to writers.
ReplyDeleteSo I guess that makes this piece...derived. Not very original, huh?
Thanks for the kind comments. Yes ,this is about crimes of passion. I'm glad I got the point across. Hehe. As to turning this into a novel, I'll have to think about it. A children's story, maybe, minus the deaths.
As to shows, I'm not really watching anything on TV except news and national geographic, so kamo na lang recommend ^__^