After A Punishing Day Poem by Benjamin Chiu Uy

After A Punishing Day

After being a good student you will recalled,
You were once this forge of generating holy fire,

During these desperate years,
You have to find a wife and a small store in Divisoria market,

Engaged, forged a partnership with guts, dares, and chances,
With no ends in sights,
And zero filterings in the dark horizons,

You took chances, dares and lotteries
The way migrants, small businessmen, scrapped for empty bowls,
The few pesos profited on unruly city markets.

Crammed at nights with your wife for a growing stable of a family,

They were as voracious as feeds for the chickens,
For plates of rice, noodles and canned sardines,

Life was once this stubborn stranger,
Among Indian loan sharks, Chinese store owners,
crammed neighborhoods, stinky market stalls,
Competitive local entrepreneurs,

And daredevil schemes for survivals, local banks and bouncing checks,
The way you'd hoped for a grateful mornings after apunishing day,