Elvis Alves's Blog, page 3

Dresden

(After Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five)

No mystery remains when flesh turns to ash, reminding us
that we are nothing and so must make of these days things
which live beyond death.

Memories
Standing over a dead
loved one, family
members and friends
share memories of the
deceased. It is then laughter
and joy mix with sorrow—
ingredients of memories.

On the day planes, christened with letters that spelled U.S.A.,
dropped bombs from cockpits like mother giving birth to child,
a girl runs outside with outs...

Poor Diet

I

The poor’s diet consists of eggs because eggs are cheap and high in protein
and taste like a strange meat—a meat opposite of beef, chicken, or
pork.

It is a shame that eggs do not grow on trees like fruits because the poor eats fruits too and I imagine that they would pick eggs like fruits if eggs grew on trees.

Some fruits are very sweet because they contain a high content of fructose and some fruits are sour, causing you to close your eyes when you bite into them.

But the poor does not c...

Music Paradise or When the Blues Man Overstays his Visit

SaxophoneLong ago, the story goes, a man and a woman
ate a fruit and made music: A child with thebluest eyes and the darkest skin that sang the
blues with eyes closed          TrumpetI walked to a house without a door
People sat on blocks of iceThe sun was shining“Hey man, where you going?” a man yelledHe was fat and wore a mean look on his face
A look that said he can beat you—beat you
bad—just because he canI ran to him
He held me by the throat with hands
of ropes and said...

Bitter Melon One & Two

Bitter Melon (One)                Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh (Genesis 2:24)               
I
My mother met my father at a dance party. Both were 24 years old. The danceparty was held at a venue called Dancehall in the village where my father was born and lived. He worked as a...

Animal Farm

Cats fall from the skyThunder cries softly,
juxtaposed to heavy, drunkenhowling of a camp of canines,
the dark flesh of night covering their fiery crazed eyes
Cows and horses restlessly walkto empty troughs long abandoned by
pigs, land-bound scavengers whose vocal leadersstood on shaky soap boxes recruiting
members to the rebellious foldwith the slogan, “the chickens have comehome to roost”
 Switch-on Gutenberg

Blessings

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Amongst my African Brothers in New York City

Oh brothers, did the blue of the Caribbean Sea andwhite winters of New York serve to wash me clean of you? We dance separate rhythms. We eat different foods. I am ashamed to say but it is a fact that spaghetti and meatballs, cold cuts sandwiches, and perogies , yes, even perogies agree with my stomach more than your native peppa soup withgoat meat, suya chicken, and roasted banana eaten with peanuts. Oh brothers, must my stomach, like my mind, too be decolonized?If yes, wh...

On Visit to Hellshire Beach (Jamaica)

He cleans fish where water touches steps of stone leading
to dry land and mouth of makeshift shack where man with

stained apron put fish in large pan of oil on top of stove
fueled by burning wood, and let it fry

and serves it with Bammie

The smell of frying fish, or sound of oil jumping in
pan, do not distract from the iterant fishmonger

with scars like roadways on bone thin face, and knife in
dexterous hands shedding scales from fish, scales that

swim in air like dust disturbed by strong wind...

An Affair

He and she into serious
business
Making baby
Fuking all day and night
Neighbors na turn a
blind eye
She hollering
He wuking away

All heads turn to the
house down yonder
Just the other day
He beat she painfully in
the streets
Catch she wid another man
in de same house

Few days lata she wid
she frens when one a dem
ask, "why you let tha man do
you so?"

She tells dem how she luvs
him so and that he makes all
her toes curl when they do
the ting that they do

He sits with his frens
and they congratulate him
for handling sh...

Fish Soup

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