poem of the day 10.23.09

pig latin

i’m a
merciful man
sometimes
and there are
two latinos
on the train
talking
about british girls
and he said
that last night
there was a group
of british girls
on the subway platform
and that they
looked lost
and she asked
what did you do?
and he said
i tried to help them
but you know the british
they talk in cockney
or something
it’s like english
but it’s not
it’s like pig latin
or something
and she said
it can’t be pig latin
because pig latin
is when you say words
backwards or something
and he said
well, i don’t know
if it was pig latin or not
only that they don’t really
speak english
over in england
so i couldn’t really
help them, he said
as i sit on the train
listening
thinking
what a merciful man
i am sometimes.