verdigris

proud was i,
maybe a touch too proud,
that day.
like a sculptor,
presenting a masterpiece
of clay,
there i gave
this artifact of love
made for you.
which, in your hands,
was caught in your power
to undo.
—-
on youthful feelings of being spurned.

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no other reason

there is no other reason
for us to be apart
except that you complain
that i keep my heart.
there is nothing logical
about such trifling thing
except that you define trust
to mean everything.
i must not keep a secret
if i love you really true;
what kind of reasoning is that,
coming from you?
there is a private chamber
that you cannot violate,
you talk of trust, [...]

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The Footprints

it’s been a struggle,
coming back here,
the surf still bears the imprint of your smile,
and the waves remain constant,
like i had never gone.
but the rocks show the wear of years;
i trace my hand upon that long-ago dream
etched with glass,
etched with youth’s elan,
all weathered now,
and i can barely figure out your name.
the salty tang of twilight breeze
fill [...]

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the namesake of orleans

when i see the pine trees i see you,
invisible presence in the wind, i hear your
laughters in the branches,
like the lilting banshee sighs; i echo them,
yearning for this absent fairy,
only your smile can chase away these cobwebs,
until i am embraced by warmth.
memories are kindled by pine needles underfoot,
and i remember the time we spent walking [...]

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crossroads

there are places that seem innocent,
time and meanings, that seem like nothing,
like, who ever thought
that forever could hinge
on such a simple act
as when david chose to cool himself
upon that rooftop,
and bathsheba choosing that moment
to bathe herself…
we have grown accustomed
to pushing our limits,
extending our boundaries…
from babel to titanic,
challenging the heavens,
shattering ourselves upon its walls…
until the final [...]

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firestorm and hail

she came without warning,
like the coming of a thief,
firestorm to burn my soul,
and hail to purge my grief.
i do not mind the burning,
i do not mind the scour,
but to come upon me like a ghost
i almost can’t endure.
i’ve left behind all hope,
i’ve forgotten how to feel,
but hail and firestorm bids me
to accept that this is [...]

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polished

look here,
the answers to your questions
do not belong
to a faraway shore,
and the star
upon which your wishes flew
is from your beaches, too,
so please,
open your eyes,
look here,
i have polished my soul
so it could shine
for you.
——
1 pm
6/7/02
written in candon, ilocos sur

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intramuros (an introspection)

these walls of an ancient sacrifice,
i walked its battlements today,
traversed its crennelations,
caressed the silent mouths of its anger,
as memory brought me back,
i wonder how they who came before me
looked at these massive buttresses,
ancient armor of a city forced
to pay obeisance to a foreign land,
did they fear these walls, i wonder,
did they pray each night
that these [...]

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thinking of you

i do not know if you know
that i know you do not know
what meeting you have done
to my turbulent existence.
what prompted you to dance
into this swirling vortex?
what flame did you moth-perceive,
that you risk burning your wings?
i do not know if you know
that i know you do not know
how your words made my wretched world
a little [...]

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poem 28

counting the stars,
resplendent in that purple blanket,
indigo intangible,
somehow i miss one constellation,
trackless it leaves me
yearning for that once-was-constantly.
deeper the night embraces me
in its blanket of mist
mingled with cicada dirges,
apostrophe of soul,
yet leaving me in spiritual tears,
aching for one familiar smile.
threnodies are my sole concertos,
absence my line partner in the waltz
dying with the night;
invisible, the wounds [...]

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