the butterfly farts
the fart changes the butterfly's flight pattern
the cat on the window sill sees the butterfly
the cat jumps at the butterfly
the cat misses the butterfly
the water splashes the children sitting on the fountain
the children laugh at the cat as it scrambles out of
the fountain
the woman stops crossing the street to listen to
the children
the man driving the apple truck honks his horn at
the woman
the horn scares the woman and she hobbles across the street
the man drives away quickly almost hitting the woman
the man is afraid of being late
the man is afraid of a lot of things
the truck doesn't like the way the man drives it
the truck knows it's a shitty lot being a truck
the truck takes a sharp turn and an apple falls out of the truck
the apple rolls down a hill
the apple hits the other man in the leg
the apple feels like a martyr to the cause of its people
the apple can die proud
the other man says an angry word very loudly
the other mans leg hurts
the other man carries the hurt for the rest of the day
the other man goes home and puts the hurt in a box
the box is full of all the hurt that the other man brings home
the box grows up
the box grows boobs
the box forms opinions
the box has great legs
the box likes ella fitzgerald records
the box keeps a lot of its opinions to itself
the box is packed very tightly
the box goes to college
the college is in a city
the city is very far away from where the box grew up
the box did this on purpose
the city is full of boxes
the boxes collide with one another and bend their corners
the bent corners help them fit next to other boxes
the box is so tightly packed that it bends other boxes corners very easily
the other boxes wrap around this box very easily
the box likes the feeling of the other boxes wrapped around it
the box graduates college
the box gets a job
the job is in the city
the city has many boxes in it, some of which do not have jobs
the boxes that don't have jobs sometimes sleep inside of other boxes
the boxes that have jobs look down on these boxes
the boxes that sit in other boxes are looked at like cannibals
the city is full of boxes
the boxes carry many different things
marbles
computers
tennis rackets
game boys
greeting cards
candy
guns
dishes
picture frames
baseball gloves
bicycles
the box meets a boy carrying a candle
the boy pays attention to the box
the box likes being paid attention to
the boy never complains about how much the box weighs
the boy is strong enough to carry the box
the box feels warm from the candle in the boys chest
the box shares its opinions for the first time
the box feels lighter when it does this
the boy and the box move in together
the boy and the box have a baby
the baby's crib has the words "Fragile: Handle With Care" written on it
the boy and the box think this is funny
the candle in the boys chest falls over one day
the candle catches the boy on fire
the boy burns up
the box raises its baby alone
the box has no one to share its opinions with anymore
the box gets tired raising the baby alone
the box feels heavier every day
the box starts to split at the seams
the box collapses one day from carrying all the weight for all the years
the baby is the only one there to pick up the pieces
the baby puts the pieces in its back pocket
the baby grows up
the baby forms opinions
the baby goes to college
the baby likes Husker Du records
the baby wears tennis shoes
the baby still keeps pieces of the box in it's back pocket
the baby goes for walks
the baby likes to eat Thai Food
the baby is walking down the street
the baby sees a butterfly land on a bus bench
the baby pulls the pieces of the box out of its pocket
the baby hits the the butterfly with the pieces of the box
the baby squishes the butterfly on the bus bench
the baby kills the butterfly
the baby doesn't know why it did this
the baby just did this
the baby just does this.
Kenneth C. Arkind (born 1982) U.S.A. (now lives in New Zealand)
Source: La Revista Poetry Slam Guatemala
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