Golden Station
Suddenly indecisive
and numb to it all
da emotional atmospherics
dat stay emanating from da brain
is kinnah different
den da locomotive
dat wuz once pulling da train.
Let me apply some scrutiny
and put wun x-ray on da situation.
I can see lately
dat it’s very complicated
and sometimes frustrating
cause da scope
of wat it’s really about
no boil down
to wun perceptible sound bite.
Sliding into doubt
or second guessing
can derail anyting
and send you into wun ditch.
In da face of dat
no come all bent
and trow your hands up in da air
cause da golden station
is always deah
waiting at da end of da destination.
Deah’s too much power
available in da engine
to not get back on track
and race down dat dream.
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
near da entrance
of wun dead end street.
Dats wat happens
wen you listen
to da 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
moa time to tink.
Too late foa dat now—
Wen you shake off da close call
on da rainy highway
you’ll still be intent
on heading
into da opposite direction.
Stunned and stalled
your shaky hands
reach foa da ignition.
Deah’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.
About the Poet
Joe Balaz writes in Hawaiian Islands Pidgin (Hawai’i Creole English) and American English. He is the author of Pidgin Eye, a book of poetry. In July, 2020, Balaz was given the Elliot Cades Award for Literature as an Established Writer. It is the most prestigious literary award given in Hawai’i. Balaz presently lives in Cleveland, Ohio.