They are doing something on the pier From the look of it, a restaurant or coffee shop with a second floor Just imagine the view. And the bill. Life in a day. Today. I saw a half black half white cat crossing the street. A half bad omen? A dead crow by the pavement. Oh yeah. Full bad omen. Four policemen surrounded a homeless man, skinny, Vietnamese. A glimpse of him with his hands behind his back. A disturbed large man on the bus yelling the whole way to my stop. The same man sleeping against the wall, yelling sporadically to those waiting at the bus stop. On my way home. Then came a test. A short woman with the smell of poop sitting across from me, “Hey. HEY! SWEETIE. HEY, SWEETIE. HEY!” Kinda reminded me of a waitress just casually, “What can I get for you, sweetie?” Both to me. 62 year-old man with white hair. Though when I put my cap on, I probably look younger. I usually do my silent chanting Nam Mô A Di Đà Phật up the top of my head to stay peaceful. Still. Quiet. This time the snake demon inside of me telepathically whispered a message to the HEY SWEETIE woman. “Stop now.” Well, that’s what I imagined, of course. I am no demon. And just this morning inside the DMV waiting area, I experienced the tingling vibration moving upward the top of my head. Peace. Stillness. Not joy, though. In the past, when the current moved, I could sense joy. Ecstasy. Has been a while. I didn’t even look at the sweetie woman I left when my stop came I left with her smell of poop in my nostrils still And on the way home, I thought of the dead cat left by the curb earlier this year. Every time I walked by, I gave it a silent Nam Mô A Di Ðà Phật The smell got stronger, then someone put a cover over it Then one day, gone. It’s been a long hot summer But rain will arrive next week The Godzilla super El Niño chứ đâu phải giỡn! And out of nowhere I have an image of a collapsed Huntington Beach Pier More dead crows on the ground During the winter of my life Still good, sweetie?
