Shall I compare thee to Peking’s subway,
Thus I began my usual mockery,
which, this time, was interrupted
by him saying, “it’s Shakespeare
so it should be metro, not subway.
That actually makes sense,
but would break my puns.
I smiled back affirmative,
liking this Britishman more
like a friend than as a colleague.
The subway-metroism stays
in my mind and never fades away.
I wonder how the bard would
say about modern times—
he probably would cry instead.
{END}
Here’s to the End of a Beginning
by Fanz Hugo
Here’s to the end
of a beginning:
Look ahead,
don’t look back.
I was young
and I was dumb.
I was the kid
on constant run.
I was the debt
of my own life.
I’m the family
of my family.
People only want
to know the part of
you that they’d like to
know. What do they know?
Limited knowledge,
unobtainable love,
and unimagined
possibilities.
{END}
MLM
by Fanz Hugo
It’s often easier
to fool ourselves than
to fool some others.
So what if you fool
yourself into it,
believing it is
easier to fool some
others? Not yourself?
Welcome to success.
{END}
The Son and the Girlfriend
by Fanz Hugo
Two men sitting
beside me talked
about the way
of their lives.
The western shirt guy
has no wife and kids.
He’s not allowed to
use peanut butter.
The Asian suit guy
loves his son
and his girlfriend.
Now that’s a story.
How strange was that:
The shirt talked more
about family and kid
than the suit who has.
You don’t want to
talk about it unless
it’s all sunny side up.
Like there’s no crap.
The one who talks
despite the tragedy,
is the one who
becomes comedy.
{END}
The Box of Shame
by Fanz Hugo
He knew it was coming.
Eventually he was given
The Box of Shame,
by his favorite employer.
He kept quiet as usual
and walked slowly
out of the building,
holding the box.
Everyone on the bus
glimpsed at it. It was
just too obvious
to ignore the notion.
A youngster, holding
his smartphone, came up
to him and asked,
“Mind if I take a photo?”
He looked up
at the young man
and paused for a brief second,
then started smiling.
“You see, that’s the spirit!
No I don’t mind! Not at all!”
{END}
Fanz Hugo 