for Dean Young

Dean says it’s okay to talk about Paul
and all the things Paul has invented.
Take bamboo. That was his, and so were
fingernails; and the one he’s most proud of
the hump of the dromedary.

Contrary to what we’re told in Dean’s poem, clouds
were Paul’s idea and he has the scars on his back
to prove it. But enough about the great genius of
Paul. You will never find Paul Suntup vacuuming
because he is a lazy bum. However, to be fair
he suffers from a condition of slothfulness
so severe that a team of paleontologists, geologists, 
anthropologists and archeologists once discovered
a host of fossils preserved in the volcanic ash between
his ribs; including three antelope teeth, the lower jaw
of a tortoise and a trail of Guinea-fowl prints.

It’s best not to ask Paul where he’s from.
He has an accent, move on.

Paul enjoys strawberries, and eats them from the front
of his head, unlike Dean whose face apparently
is on the back, but Dean is strange that way.

There are times when Paul can’t help but burst with love
for this world and other times he’d like to fill the rain clouds
with kerosene then burn a candle
and hold it up to the beautiful sky.