Canned Sardines

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Red, orange and brown
Your lunch, your dinner
You don’t have a choice
For it’s your only fare now

It’s now on sale in stores
Buy now; it’s buy one, take one
Right now, it fits with rice
And with salt plus soy sauce, too!

Eat it with a paper plate
With fingers, spoons and forks
You’re free to eat it all
Make sure to finish your plate, too!

All those fancy packaging
Contain only the same thing
You eat it every day
To live through each damn day

This is your last bill now
You check your holed pockets
As you watch the night news
To clap at an election speech

The night sinks deep, you go to bed
As you dream of eating canned food again.

Earl Carlo Guevarra

Earl Carlo Guevarra is a Filipino writer who hails from Zamboanga City. Currently residing in the heart of Manila, he enjoys traveling to far-flung places and consuming enormous amounts of fruit tea.

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