"Off Chin"
There's fresh graffiti
spray painted on my door.
"Off Chin," it says,
straight white letters
against the sky-blue motif
of the hotel-turned care home.
"Off" means get lost;
"Chin" has something to do
with my ethnicity.
The culprit down the hall,
once a man in a clean suit,
now has soot on his cheeks,
reeks of rot,
urine, and feces,
now hurling
this cryptic insult
for me to decipher.
"Off Chin, Off Chin,"
echoing like a mantra
through the corridors.
"Not"
They say we're "not very smart"
Using a negative modifier
Instead of the actual word
They could've said we were dumb
Doltish or dull
But not "not very astute!"
They say we're bimbos
Or dim bulbs
The two terms almost sound alike
And have similar meanings
Maybe they're the ones
Not very bright
The Unlove Poem
I try to write a poem of love
but I just shut the door
against someone's face
to have the elevator to myself
like a pigeon hogging bread
I try to weave words of caring
but I just hid the gelato
from my roommates
then relished its swirls of caramel
when nobody was watching
I'm like the stage actress
secretly wishing
her nemesis would break a leg
so she could play the lead
I'm the heart
untroubled
benefiting
pretending to mourn
the plight of others
unqualified
to write a love poem
