I forgot to say Astronomo-Kanamono worked,
Nay, slaved away for APT Advertink. She never once shirked
In her rȏle as Deputy Director of the Tink Tank,
APT’s most abstract department, but a zone where no one shrank
From entertaining the most left-field concept from any
Source, clients included.
~
The department’s head was Benny
Asher, a keen but placid Zionist who posed no threat
To Radica’s other-Semitic verve – at least not yet.
He gave her enough latitude to make enough mistakes
To counter her ‘brilliant managerial skill that makes
Me look good’: so he often praised her to her face
**
Yep, Asher was a smart sonofagun, but he was not
Exactly what he believed himself to be: a hot shot.
But it is not a novel notion that everyone has
To fool himself. Item: he was cool because he liked Jazz;
Item: a play was great because his seat was expensive;
Item: his knowledge of French Literature was extensive
Because he had read a translation of Diabolique;
Item: he couldn’t be a type because he was unique.
~
But none of that’s to say Asher was not a nice fellow:
All his colleagues, including Radica, thought him mellow
And level-headed, even in the most hectic of times.
He was kindly and would entertain all your little crimes
Of imagination against Good Taste: a clever dog,
He led a crew of curs he was too smart to ever flog.
He’d slog through piles of their perfectly good ideas before
Choosing one to ‘clean up’ like dogshit.
(*fatima solagua arterra’s nudes* by Brian Chan, 2015)
FARJOURNEY CARIBBEAN 