Could Fulfillment Ever Be Felt

Jemu Watched His Father Disappear. He Didn't Throw The Coconut And He Didn't Cry. Never Again Would He Know Love For Another Human Being That Wasn't Adulterated By Another, Contradictory Emotion.

No Fruit Dies So Vile And Offensive A Death As The Banana.

You Lived Intensely With Others, Only To Have Them Disappear Overnight, Since The Shadow Class Was Condemned To Movement. The Men Left For Other Jobs, Towns, Got Deported, Returned Home, Changed Names. Sometimes Someone Came Popping Around A Corner Again, Or On The Subway Then They Vanished Again. Addresses, Phone Numbers Did Not Hold. The Emptiness Biju Felt Returned To Him Over And Over, Until Eventually He Made Sure Not To Let Friendships Sink Deep Anymore.

Sadness Was So Claustrophobic.

Saeed Quickly Found Employment At A Banana Republic, Where He Would Sell To Urban Sophisticates The Black Turtleneck Of The Season, In A Shop Whose Name Was Synonymous With Colonial Exploitation And The Rapacious Ruin Of The Third World.