The Filipino cats used
To hang out at this
Arcade on Market Street
Called the Fun Center
Most of them were in
Their teens and wore
Their hair long
Some of them carried
Radios as big as
Suitcases
The Fun Center had
All kinds of video
Games
And I was Filipino too
But these guys knew
Some Filipino stuff that
I didn’t know so I kept
My mouth shut, and watched
With my pockets empty
And a lot of those
Guys stood around
Looking tough and cool,
Posing without trying to
Pose
But it was their
Slacks that I tripped
On
Those slacks hugged
Their narrow waists
And ballooned out at
The sides
Those slacks were pleated
And those Filipino cats
Stood in that Fun Center
And walked down Market
Street waiting for anybody
To give them a bad time
And I never got a pair
Of pleated slacks
Quite like those guys
truth be told,
i was never cool
enough to wear
them
and some of those
guys may have
been in a gang
or two but the way
those pants looked, that
was the gang i wanted
to be in
And I remember
Those guys and how
They looked in them
Even though
Over
Time
Their numbers
Would be
Depleted
© 2014 Tony Robles