ix is a short unconventional poem written and shared by Rian Reyes to The Ugly Writers for the theme Love for the month of May.

ix

beside my uni,

wrinkled hands reaching out to the trash. hoping to find bottles to fill one’s belly. maybe if she get lucky she’ll take home some rice and a can of sardine.

and if not she’ll hear her grandchild’s voice,

i’m hungry.

in the terminal outside this mall in cal. there’s this little one who sells sampaguita.

always telling me to buy some and that she needs to fund herself. you see, she wants to be a nurse.

before i get to my house, i always pass by this old man; full of wisdom.

always has a cigar between his yellow teeth. and he always tell me that,

the poor are poor because the capitalists are greedy fuckers.

the world is green.

the world is blue.

the world is red.

it’s black.

white.

grey.

this world is graceless and a bit mediocre.

this world is heartless and as are the people who inhabit it.

Give some love to Rian Reyes by reading her previous entry at The Ugly Writers: