Insomnia Poem by Rahman Henry

Midnight can't sleep. Sitting on the porch
It calls the sleeping buds of Wax Begonia—

Nocturnal call, why you provoke me
From the absorbed chlorophyll of
Urban mango leaves?

Don't you know? Even the emperors of Asia
Maintain office hours: 9am to 5pm...
They ignore— any liability of night-events;
For rice and suger, only a slave I am!

Without getting proper soil, Begonia, frequently
Aborts her flowers. To manage suger syrup
For her buds— who would work tomorrow?