Thomas Poem by Windsor Guadalupe Jr

There was a man
Named Thomas,
And he was a delinquent,
A truant beau of the morning
And he went to mass every Sunday,
And read JD Salinger before going to sleep -
And he gave himself away.

And Thomas went by,
Past the pews and the bizarre faces
Of the people frozen by the church halls,
And he prayed to his God
To take their pains away,
And he carried the world
Over his shoulder of frozen brooks.

And yes there is a man named Thomas,
And he gave himself away,
And he locked inside himself,
Created a bastion around himself,
Barricaded himself,
Extinguished the fire inside his eyes,
And told himself, that nothing fills.

And the people talked,
The people screamed,
The people wailed, lost in a dream.
Thomas froze, in between pillars,
And plucked a lash away from his garden
Of callow eyes and made a wish.

And yes, Thomas is his name,
And he went to mass every Sunday
And he smoked his cigarette like a madman,
Because he was a mad man,
And his heart was fragmented
Because there’s someone as mad as he is
And that someone, was a woman

And Thomas is his name,
And he never went to church on a Sunday,
And he smoked cigarettes everyday,
And his face was lost in disarray,
Everyday, he was tangled into forays
And lost himself, gone astray.

Thomas froze, in public places
Lost the vim in eyes,
Gnashed teeth in a cat’s nap
Restive, as the tremulous Earth
Lost faith in the omnipotent
Lost life within the benches.

Now, he preferred to be called Tom,
Because it was a fanciful sobriquet
And then, he attended church every Sunday again,
And he never smoked cigarettes anymore,
He continued reading Salinger before sleeping,
And prayed to his God to restore his being,
And he felt lithe. He really did.

And he wished himself well every night,
And he cried himself to sleep
Rather than smoking to death,
And he prayed until he felt sleepy,
Rather than wail and despair until strength is siphoned,
Stolen away from him.

Yes, his name was Thomas,
But he liked the way Tom sounded,
And he wished himself well everyday,
And he went to church every Sunday,
And he already quit smoking one day,
And he promised himself,
That he’d prefer things this way.