1.) GRIEVANCE TO A DEAD TREE
(An attempt at sonnet)
The naked old mango tree now deprived
Of vigor to drink the milk of earth’s bosom;
No golden fruits to cuddle for sweetly bribe
Bark stripped from flesh to rot—such a lethal doom.
Desperate to reminisce the springs of youth,
This young tree once hung a cradle of delight,
Fruits shape to sweet hearts, we’d get with loath
To feed the hunger of lovers in deep plight…
You gave me the fruit, cast with glorious spell;
While their’s floral bloom, tears will never shed,
Now gone is Your face, I, enshroud in despair,
Your presence to my soul, I longed to feed.
My flesh has aged, the mango had died.
Memories may fade but never my heart.
2.) Perseverance
when darkness is replaced
by dawn veiled in sweet beauty;
the somberness that rest once
calm in Morpheus’ arms,
now reveals the energy
of eagerness and bravery:
workmen toiling
valiant in the lofty scaffoldings
in dense tight by these rigid ropes
draping in this gigantic building;
their mighty hands
in smooth strokes
to paint a life
out of this colorless walls.
3.) To the Withered Grass
How
widely you
embrace this withering
delight of the midday sun; leaves
zipping the apocalypse of heat; wrenching
the veins of your frail and hungry roots under the
sterile ground. I too gave in weakly to life that rips me
like your parched leaves which are loomed stark by disaster.
In the depth of the naked night, I was left to lament and listen to your
soundless bewailing dispersedly buried with the mad air; lamentation of anemone.
In my dark nights where insomnia awakes the psyche like a rattling stereo,
my mind cracked open to darkness and mysteries—doomed to men.
To begin with the miracle of our existence—your being.
We had evolve like any animates and inanimate,
it is the logic of humanity that studies
necessity of our ancestry. And
here you are little grass
planted to your
destined
spot.
4.) the 20th
how I wanted to halt
this daunting lousy click
of the sturdy finger
pointing—twelve;
hissing at my face,
a murmur of twenty.
My bones soon
in scary wreck frail.
How my young hairs
wish to forget how
to grow in aged white!
5.) Her Mama
Deep-set somber eyes, aquiline nose,
dark straight hair, infectious laugh,
lovely line in the cheeks; this is her mama.
Her beautiful sad eyes,
opens a window of love and soul.
Her nose hangs like a beak
of an eagle, she could sniff everything,
even her darkest secrets.
Her cheeks etch lines of tiredness,
fragile as the matchsticks,
but when she laughs
it’s like a vortex of sunshine
in a twilight morn.
6.) TO MY COUSIN LUCING,
NOW LUCIA IN HAWAII
Dear cousin Lucia, aloha!
Quite a long time since we’ve got
in touch with each other. How are you?
Tiya Mameng showed your
pictures today, you looked wonderful
in your flowered dress, your curly hair
is shiny too. Remember Mundo?
He said you’re now beautiful.
He will never tease you again
enchanted lady in balete tree
whose virgin hair is always soaked
dry in coconut oil.
I never climb coconut trees now,
like we used to do when we were
young and we’ve got the thirst
for a fresh buko. It’s because of Mundo;
we used to call ugly Negro,
who always made us cry
whenever he used to tell our classmates,
that someday,
we will be good pilots—not of planes
but pilots in tress.
My sister Loleng,
always laughs whenever I remember you to her. She never forgot the day
we’ve got the whipping from Tiyo Pedro
that April day we painted dots
on Bekang’s two youngs
with a black marker and tainted gold
their tails. After that innocent morning
we watched 101 Dalmatians, that day
he noticed the strange-looking puppies
rolling in the grass.
The young langka we used to tend
has grown fuller now. It bore big fruits
and tasted so delicious and juicy,
yet I got so angry when after eating
Nanding burst in loud fart
So irritating and smelly.
I always remember our cane-hacking time,
but my legs often tremble whenever
Mang Dolfo stopped by our sari-sari store
and brought stalks of sugarcanes
for my youngest brother Kikoy
whom his godson.
My pretty cousin,
please send us more pictures and letters
and tell us about your life there.
How is your mother and your new
Hawaiian father?
Lucia or Lucing, we all missed you a lot.
How I wish I can use my pilot-ability
To drive a coconut and fly up there!
I’m still your most adorable cousin—
PEDRING
7.) haiku
a.) Now the last leaf fall
In the stillness of the night
Death is waiting— quiet.
b.) Lightning marks the sky—
Thunder boils up the ground—
I stood in the bush—still.
8.) For Jose across the Sea
when dreams are told
and future’s unseen
I wish—
to row our boats
in the blue white sea
stock our thoughts
in bottles,fancies
and pleas before
pour like rain
shells in opalescent hues
we used to dig
in the moonlit shore.
9.) Night Out
Tonight’s no night for stories and poems
The moon’s fair, witches are out leaping
from eaves to twigs
I paced about; heard them sing
“Come catch the moon about to fall.”
10.) Ug sa Imong Panampiling
ug sa imong panampiling
nahinanok mong balintataw
sa kawanangan natutok
imong panlantaw.
mga balod sa kagahapon
sa kailadman pugos
nga mga paghandum.
ug karon manambo
sa imong handurawan
ang mga pangandoy
nga mangawhat ug
modagpi aron ikaw
dili sa kahangturan
mahinanok ug malubong
sa pag-antos nga
imong nahiaguman.