Every night when I was a child
I laid on my bed, oft beguiled
I could not drift into sleep
Because it would always creep
By the foot of my bed
Where it would poke out its head
And wait until the sandman came
So it could begin its game
Now, it was nothing sinister
It would just administer
Tickles until I laughed myself awake
And through the years this would take
My mind off what life depleted
All the arguments that were heated
The shouting and tears
The pushing and fears
That no child should ever face
In the home that was my space
Those nights in my bed
When I wished I was dead
It came without warning
And stayed ‘til the morning,
Tickling until I smiled,
Made me remember I was a child
Those were times long past
And I have searched and I have asked
Tracked and looked and scoured and penned
All to find my long-lost friend
Written by Karl Gaverza
Copyright © Karl Gaverza
Inspired by the Pongkoe legends from Aklan
Pongkoe Illustration by Abe Joncel Guevarra
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