The Pledge

a poem about poverty

my God why didn’t I stay

a child bound to earth

growing nests of potatoes

stirring polenta at sunset

the greedy city gates swallowed me

from head to toes

with the knapsack woven by my ancestors

for such a long time

I wandered in resoled shoes

year after year at Annunciation

in my jacket sewn with white yarn

on its lining

 

shop dummies were smiling at night

with a starry air

under colored neon lights like candy

with powdered glossy wigs

like carnival cotton sugar

changing clothes and heads every season

 

one day I picked five bucks in the street

no one was near apart from the wind

slamming the flower kiosk at the corner

another day I found five bucks in my balcony

I crossed myself with my right hand

because  I couldn’t find the owner

it was a sunny Sunday

 

in the pantry stuffed with old insomnia

I took a walk around the mountain of salt

from all my ancient tears

searching for wisdom

sticking my sweaty front towards North

knocking as if it were the Wailing Wall

while men were breaking down as usual

champagne filled glasses

acrobatic pyramids

card castles with the ace of spades for foundation

 

they light fireworks once a month in this city

I’m keeping in my palm a three grams gold heart

hanging on a thin thread

which I will never pawn