baril, mahaba at mapusok
walang kinikilalang dugo
pinoy sa pinoy, kay Allah o Hesukristo
isang kalabit na kapangyarihan
bata, takot at umiiyak
takbo, tago, laro ng desperado
kapit sa palda ng nanay
at sa langit tumingala
ama, dibdib na marupok
pusong naghihimagsik
tikom bibig, matang dilat
ang tulog ay panaginip
maynila, maynila kasing ingay ng baril
kahit malayo sa bakbakan
mga henyo sa kuwartong malamig
isang kibit katumbas kapangyarihan
giyera, giyera
baril, [...]
water-shocked stars,
pesticide tides,
bodies that float,
like paper boats,
buoyed by prayers,
bloated by tears,
they weep,
they curse,
they pray,
they drown,
a ship, a crown,
a princess of the stars.
Bobo ang baril, sa iyo pa nanggigil
Dahil ayaw tumahimik, sila ay di mapakali
Guro, Musa, Bayani
Konsensya ng Bayan, ikaw ‘yon.
Sa Maguindanao, di nahalal ang nahalal
Ngunit iilan lamang kayong umangal
Guro, Musa, Bayani
Taong marangal, ikaw ‘yon.
Paano ka patay kung alaala mo’y buhay?
Paano sila buhay kung konsensya nila’y patay?
Bobo ang baril, kay Musa nanggigil
Pira-pirasong Dimasidsing tangay ng hangin
Sa bawat [...]
(Blogger’s Note: Here is a poem I wrote after my father died. I miss him everyday especially with what’s going on in the country.)
Dead at seventy-four,
In the Parthenon of heroes
You lay still
In the pit of earth.
I breathe in your shadow.
I bear your name.
And people look at me
In search of You.
I miss the sound of your [...]
sunday is a teacup in bloom
when time laundered hangs out to dry
its soft fabric flutters despite the stillness of air
i hear the hum of my thoughts as my heart beat strolls
on the paradise of summer where wind is stingy with its kisses
sunday is the soft bed i lie in with my dog
with crumpled sheets that [...]
mother, am i
you in the cosmos of time,
you in the twin of a wink of
random consciousness?
Am I you pretending to be free?
Or am I free to attempt to be you?
And if it seems that I avoid you,
is it because of the memory long forgotten
of how you tried, but failed, to
make me you?
It cannot be, you [...]
This is for my daughter Estelle.
She is twenty while I am nine.
She helps me cross into her future, so I won’t be left behind.
In the galaxy of her dreams, I am but one of many stars.
But in my constellation, she is the star that matters.
I lend her oversized clothes with my memories tucked in its [...]
My daughter, precious are your tears.
Let me dry them with my prayers to
Jesus, Son of God and Man.
I feel your pain.
Because I write,
I live with extraordinary people
Who don’t exist
Except upon my say so.
Because I write,
Words come and go
Like happy tourists
Travelling without a map
Because I write,
I ponder, and in the melancholy
Of my dreams, I cry
Because I write,
A choir of words
Give music to my pen
Because I write,
I can tuck the world
In bed and create a new one
Simply [...]
Recent Comments