The Pruning
Deadhead
the ground
where petals lay,
not the blossomed
branch, rivered
& riveted
this garden,
this square
of pear & pine.
Unlock
the pruning knife,
cut the roses
back to thorn,
back to distel,
to angled light.
Be...
It’s 20 minutes after 8 in the eveningAnd everyone is readying themselvesFor another wretched night of fragile safety.Air raid sirens bellow throughout Kiev and...
Exact is not the word; the hurting is felt in many places. - Joel Toledo
Mending is necessary as these respites from fragility will no longer do.
Mind the volume dial as it floods you with constants and firmitude.
Long before right from wrong: language stolen...
My name is Juan Marlin Madero and everyone thought I killed my father.
When the policemen drove me over to the Oslob Police Station yesterday morning, they clamored among their squad for the return of the death penalty for people like me.
Only a...
1
Night falls
I hear crickets
And the sound of waves
As the sea marks
A quiet day
Towards a somber weekend
2
I have lived with face masks
And face shields
For years
And where did they get me?
I learned to greet
With muffled voice
And learned to smile
With my own eyes
I learned how to...
1
“The fish are small,” Amir lamented. “The catch is pitiful. They won’t fetch a good price. I’m afraid we can’t raise the money for the operation, Papang.”
Amir’s rough, hard hands deftly manipulated the blade, cleaving through the dolphinfish with precision. Flesh, sinew,...
In memory of the hundreds of trash pickers who perished in the garbage slide at the Payatas dumpsite on July 10, 2000
From the skeleton
Of disemboweled mattresses
Bent scrap of metal
You honed to pointed perfection
To stab at the refuse of the world
In this moment’s defeat
You...
The red-orange hue of the fading sunlight cast a pale glow on the walls of the house. It indicated that the summer night would be warm, if not hotter than the day that struck 39 degrees. The old Sombreto stared at passing birds...