Thursday, August 21, 2008



MY BOOK

He sleeps in the mat
where I wander
through the night

He snores through my ears
while I listen
to his fears

He wakes up slowly
the itch in my brain;
It feels funny

He yawns in my face
tickles the seam
of the embroidered lace

that is dangling
in front of me
swims in my vast sea.

"Picture is my painting on a Philippine woven mat (banig)"


FLOWER WOMAN

Plucked
from the ribs
of Adam
You came to life
inside the node
of the bamboo
Molded
in the midst
of mud that
is made of gold

Maria, Magdalena
and Mary Ann

You grew
out of the mystery
of the seed
in the rain,
you opened
and swayed
with the wind

Hibiscus, Santan
and Jasmine

Beautiful is the maiden
at seventeen
like fireflies
in the month
of December
Behold!
the fire
of the tree
at Fuente-
Woman

Picture is the author's own painting and the poem is a translation from Cebuano "Babayeng Bulak" published in the book "Haling".

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

STORM IN A POETESS' LIFE



Every second a storm rages on
Here, inside my drawer
Where I keep the words
That spin around my head
Sometimes it's signal number one
And my brain just explodes
When it reaches number two
I puff on my tobacco
At times when it is number three
I shout with the raindrops
Number four, I scamper to my room
Number five, I'm screaming mad
And when it reaches number six
There is danger overhead
I would stop my fountain pen
From inflicting any pain
For I am scared of the raging storm
Of signal number seven-
When words drift with the wind
Through the concrete fence
And the tidal waves
Swallow all the rules
that try to stop
the outpour of my metaphors

*this poem is translated from Cebuano, "Bagyo sa Balaknong Kinabuhi"

WHEN I FINISH HIGHSCHOOL

WHEN I FINISH HIGHSCHOOL

Nanay
is pregnant again
There are now ten
siblings in our brood
Tatay is better
than a magician
He believes in God's call
to go out in the world
and multiply
Maybe the heavens
do not know
that there is no more
space in our barrio-
When the stomach
of our youngest one
turns sour
When the shopkeeper
comes to collect
I run to our neighbour
ashamed of this all
It's Okey-
When I reach highschool
I won't worry anymore
Since my best friend
has been telling me
when we finish highschool
we will stow away
to the big city
work on any job
so that I have something
to send to the forever
angry shopkeeper.

*Sculpture "Sorrow" is by the author and poem is translated from Cebuano "Inig-gradweyt Nako sa Haiskul"

WHEN I LEAVE


Switch off the lamp posts
that line
the laughing lane
of our road.
Switch on the radio
to close the conversation,
drown the cheers
that has long been gone.
Take the bottles
of wine from the table
and rip the tablecloth
that is still there.
Silence the dogs
in our yard
who are still waiting
for my footsteps.
Turn on the last song
and once again, wear the dress
that has seen our bliss.
Look for my words
when the sleeping dust
under our old bed, awakens
Forget the whispers
sprouting from sadness
And pour water
on the creeping fire
because the two of us
are now lost, in the thickets
of our jungle.
Fly away
together with the harvest
of all our nights
And don't forget-
Switch off the lights
of the lamp posts.

*picture is the author's own painting and poem is translated from Cebuano "Sa Akong Paglakaw"