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Life Arts    H4'ed 7/4/25

Smell of Qahwah Sadah at the al-Baqa Cafe (poem)

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John Hawkins
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al Baqa cafe
al Baqa cafe
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Jesus, it's getting so you can't have a quiet cup of coffee

at al-Baqa ('perpetual existence') cafe

down by the seaside surf, patrons teeming,

when suddenly a photographer, call him Ismail, is sent skyward

riding a big fat white sperm whale of smoke.

He' s joined by the body parts of children

who found no time for innocence,

and women, with no time to ululate,

who will never ovulate again.

Through the rubble particles

filled with fiberglass and blood,

one old mama thrown up like the world's a trampoline

full of clown machine alienators high on Valvoline.

Weeeeeeee!

Weeeeeeee!

We the people

Never Again

We the people

Never Again

Houthis and Tutsis

All of Brendan's fucked up IRA men,

gawking, Omagh God.

There showing pictures now on the smart TV I love

shrapnel blades of gory

looking like lawnmower blades of glory.

.

Jesus, just came out here on my veranda to enjoy a fresh hot cup of joe

when the news broke my lack of concentration

Jeffrey Sachs on sax

I could see the fists of fury flying

When the Zionists couldn't blow up the dome

they decided to blow up the Third Rock instead

Emoji thumbs raised in Eeee-ha mode

Tap dancing on the van roof across the river

Remote control in hand

And then another oldie went flying through the air,

and another, tumblesaulted limbs swastikaring in a cartoon dust cloud.

Running crazy footsteps and curdling screams

from the honeypotted seaside happening

full of journos and families,

there to enjoy the internet and the human touch

file stories, kids maybe playing Call of Duty,

oldies sitting there in the pleasant din can hear themselves think again.

.

Tonight I'll watch About Schmidt

The Nicholson one

Where he gets into hot water with Kathy Bates

Who once took out at the knees James Caan with a baseball bat

So his days of writing about rollerball

and the memoir describing the trash can beating he gave a guy.

And Nicholson gives to Save the Children

but he doesn't know its Joseph Kony's kids and the checks buy reloads.

In this complicated world

where Trump is throwing marching girls sky-high none of them with underwear,

Cue the sousaphone and death rattle drum

catch a falling girl by the bum

look out for the zero sum

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John Hawkins Social Media Pages: Facebook page url on login Profile not filled in       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

John Kendall Hawkins is an American ex-pat freelance journalist and poet currently residing in Oceania.

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