WHOP YOUR JAW

Whop your jaw, brah,

cause da tortoise wen catch up wit you.

You taught da buggah

wuz out of da race

but he wen slide by

wen you wuz taking

wun selfie of yourself.

Out of sight

and out of mind

just like he wuz way out deah

on da Galapagos Islands

all by himself

dreaming of pictures

and passages to different oceans.

Looks like he wen evolve

all togettah differently.

So now you stay

all jealous or upset

and like trow rocks at him

but his shell is too hard

and everyting going bounce off.

Funny bunny money

and hogging da limelight and press

no mean nutting

to da patient traveler

wit wun belly plate on his chest.

Blue ribbon is fine wit him

if you share da joy wit da win.

But if you like frown

like wun unhappy clown

and get all negative

and dismissive

den moa bettah yet

whop your jaw, brah!

© Joe Balaz

Bio: Joe Balaz writes in Hawaiian Islands Pidgin (Hawai’i Creole English) and American English.  He is the author of Pidgin Eye, a book of poetry. The book was featured in 2019 by NBC News for Asian Pacific American

Heritage Month, as one of the best new books to be written by a Pacific Islander.

In July, 2020, he was given the Elliot Cades Award for Literature as an Established Writer. It is the most prestigious literary award given in Hawai’i. Balaz presently lives in Cleveland, Ohio.