Glidin' down the escalator
At the BART station in El Cerrito………

There he stood in his black tuxedo
and his fine white shirt
to match his
pretty white teeth
with a SHOE ON HIS HEAD!

A lady passes him by
and lookin' out of the corner of her eye
she stares at him as if to say,
"Nigga puuuuuleeeeeze,"
cuz’ she ain’t neva’ seen anything
like that in all her natural born days!

And Mista Pimp Mac Daddy
in his winter white crème suit
and his fancy red shirt
with the paisley print
and his red shiny shoes,
hair all conked and
wavy (that’s flat permed for those of you who don't know),
didn't seem to mind
standin' next to him
until he noticed everyone was lookin’.
So he, with his hands in his pockets,
swayed to the side
like the electric slide
and sat down.

Holding hands,
me and my fiancé
locked in love stares and sweet nothings,
wisk past him
like a November breeze
until to my utter amazement,
I see him standin’ there
with a nonchalant stare
that says,
"What's the matter wit you?"

I let go of my fiancé’s hand
and say,
"Baby, did you just see what I saw????????
That man has a SHOE ON HIS HEAD!!"


I tried to feel sorry for him,
even pray,
but something hit me so hard
travelin' down
to my inner most being down
to the lower parts of my intestines
rollin' its way up
to my diaphragm
escapin' out of my mouth
in bellows of laughter!

I laughed until I cried
tears rolling down my eyes
so hard
I had to bend over
to catch my breath.

I cried until it hurt
and I laughed
about him,
at him
and
in pity for him.

I laughed
because it brought
back a little truth
about humanity!

We are all a little like that man
with the
shoe on his head………
all of us has it in us
to make others laugh
and make others cry…
some of us one step
from wherever he was in his head…..
we just never have nerve enough
to go there
because we might never come back!

He
found his Nirvana
and was perfectly content with it….

as for me….

I prefer real life
in all it's prizimed colors!


We weave slowly
through the parking lot
to get one last glance
of the man
with the SHOE ON HIS HEAD
and low and behold
he wasn't
there…..

ok, lesson learned……

I laugh and laugh some more.




Christine Page
Copyright ©2003 Christine M. Page