“Adventures in the Human Condition with a Yellow Sponge”
I see my sister always
her pink worm pinky
in her pink right nostril,
the worm wriggling inside
digging for ventilation,
she explains in her 5 year old ways
'well, my nose feels uncomfortable,
I can't breathe'
in her native tongue, so foreign
its a funny sight to see,
this dainty, docile little creature,
hair pinned in delicate, pink pink
ribbons, and a cute pink pink dress
sitting demurely with a 5 year oldish
grace, watching the yellow Spongebob
on TV, doing all of this
with a pinky in her right nostril,
aerating her nose . . .
occasionally, the worm crawls
leisurely into her pink, pink mouth
after a saunter in her nose
and I always tell her to stop,
reprimand her about the dangers of
rhinotillexomania: meningitis, infection,
loss of nose hairs, the consumption of
pathogenic populations . . . and
society's persecutions and prejudice
and she always listens with her
pink pink meniscus ears, giggling
her pink pink bubbles of sound
and then she retaliates in her
5 year-old way and in her pink pink
pixie voice says 'fact of matterly'
that a top Austrian doctor said that
eating boogers was 'naturely' and
'helpful' by 'making strong' the
'immunity system', in American
English, and I think
that kids know too much today,
thanks to the internet
and I listen, and without verbal tongue,
I smile, from the heart, and let her
explore the depths of her nose
because I recognize in her
my own 5 year old self,
when you don't really care
about society because you live
in your imagination, without the larger
world to dictate your personal freedom,
to dictate what is natural and what is not,
what is good and what is not,
not really caring about the opinions of peers,
always knowing what you want,
always knowing your dreams,
always saying pink pink things
in a pink pink way . . .
and I leave her to watch and listen
to the philosophically profound
antics and utterances and giggles of
Spongebob Squarepants, the epitome
of the human condition as a child would
know and would most likely forget in school,
I leave her to watch, giggle, and aerate.
I 'contemplate' my own human condition,
and walk upstairs to finish my homework.
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Submission Name: “Adventures in the Human . . .
