Sonny

"Please move aside." "Ya wanna make something of it, sonny?"

In the amusement park Mary found a boy on his own weeping, and spoke to him gently. "Hey, sonny, what is it? Are you lost? Would you like me to take you to the Lost Children Department?"

"Go home, sonny," Mary urged Tom, "and have a good sleep! You're whacked out!"

"I'm going to sneak into the kitchen now and help myself to some of that pudding Mum made for the guests." "Don't you dare, Sonny Jim!" "Oh! Hello, Mum!"

Come here, sonny. You'll be my eyes.

Sonny, I knew even your great-great-grandfather.

"Would you keep an eye on my car, sonny?" "And for how much?"

This 8th of May of 2025 is sunny warm. In the morning was my 6th walking voyage this spring to the Roman Catholic church on St. Albans Road. I was noticing a big tree which reminded me of the jacaranda tree because of the purple flowers, but it isn't jacaranda. I went to the big worship hall in the church and was noticing the multicoloured stained glass in front. The hall was almost empty. A lady lit a candle. There are Filipinos in this parish. At the smaller Adoration Chapel, 'twas more crowded. (My Uncle Sonny in Los Angeles habitually went to Roman Catholic church every day when he was alive. He was Filipino hybridized with white and black American. But he looked more white in reality.) Homebound, I spent a few minutes at a grove of trees. Sometimes, the trees are the temple that all I need. I'm Syncretic by religion, really, tending towards Buddhism-Animism, but I don't discount other belief systems. It's like potpourri.

'I was christened "Sonny"', the boy said with a protective formality which was clearly of some years' growth. ' It seems to have been all right then. Fashionable, you know. Now, of course, it's ghastly. Everyone calls me Sinclair, even Mother.'

Sonny had had to change his mind about so many things, as his life changed, as the very meaning of his ridiculous name changed - first a hangover from sentimental parents, then a nickname to reassure the crowds at rallies that he was one of them, then an addendum to his full names in a prison dossier: 'also known as Sonny'. A common criminal with aliases.