Grandma

Her hands quiver

from sustained pressing of the beads.

When her voice starts to rise,

the light of the kerosene lamp amplifies

from an entirely lambent glow,

illuminating the details of

her room. Mound of frass

and dead winged

ants on the altar; archaic cross

nailed askew on a bole. Might these,

however insignificant, enrich

the sacral mood?

The silence outside thickens

at the end of her petitions.

No cry of a newborn

or the nightly keening

of an estrous dog.

 _______________

Jeric Tindoy Olay is a teacher, poet, and opinion writer born in Southern Leyte, a small province in the Philippines. His works have appeared in Philippines Graphic Reader, Mekong Review, Paris Lit Up, Quadrant Magazine, Queen’s Quarterly, Ragaire Magazine, etc.