Jonel Abellanosa

PIED PIPER

This enslavement to my instrument
Follows endless under-the-table contracts,
Under-the-carpet anomalies and permits,
Lies for the people's hopes, taxpayer
Pesos pinched, ghost clerks hired,
Men of your political opponent fired,
Substandard structures killer quakes
And waves desire. Music is how
The hideous attains art, my tunes
Like echoes of your unfulfilled promises
To pay. Rats rise from your hidden wealth,
Greed's sewers clogged with leaves
From your family tree. Your name
Stenches the air. I keep returning
To my despair, this yearn to stop
Leading to where justice prevails
But there will always be someone
Like you, so on and on I play this melody,
Till your hypnotized child takes your
Handgun and pumps a bullet in his brain


Gerald So reads "Pied Piper":



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Jonel confesses: "I was retelling the Pied Piper through poetry when typhoon Yolanda, the biggest typhoon in recorded history, hit the Philippines. Corruption is the biggest political issue in my country, so I retold the Pied Piper with a corrupt mayor as a protagonist, and considering the post-typhoon contracts of rebuilding many cities."

JONEL ABELLANOSA resides in Cebu City, the Philippines. His poetry has appeared in numerous journals and anthologies including Delirious: A Poetic Celebration of Prince (Night Ballet Press), 2015 Dwarf Stars Anthology (Science Fiction Poetry Association), Rattle, Anglican Theological Review, Poetry Kanto, The Artistic Muse, Indiana Voice Journal, Carbon Culture Review, Penwood Review, The McNeese Review, Star*Line, Inkscrawl, Pedestal Magazine, GNU Journal, Penmen Review, Eastlit, Cha, Lontar: The Journal of Southeast Asian Speculative Fiction, and Bangalore Review. He has two chapbooks, “Pictures of the Floating World” (Kind of a Hurricane Press) and “The Freeflowing All” (Black Poppy Review).