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Philippines Graphic Reader
Two Poems for the Road
A Dirge
(Majayjay-Lucban Road,
June 16, 2024)
How swift the shift
from Thalia’s smile
to Melpomene’s frown.
One moment, Jack
was about to crack
a joke. Then smack
into our bus the trike
smashed, a deadly
strike. Traffic crawled
at the bloody spectacle
of the sprawled body
splayed in a strange
angle. Dazed in shock,
I brace myself
for a...
If I Could Be Free
“I envy all of them.” I greatly pitied myself for just observing what was happening around me. Sitting up straight in my bed, I saw from my window, a bunch of kids playing with a ball outside the hospital. I saw them kicking...
Three New Poems
The Demanding Gospel
For Sunil Stephens
“Luke’s Gospel is a gospel of mercy; it emphasizes Jesus’ identification with the poor and the lowly, and His willingness to forgive sinners. Yet it is also a demanding gospel, for it shows that being a follower of Christ...
Déjà vu
It was cold on the day I reaped my first soul. I had known it was coming—had been preparing for it. Although I had watched my mentor do it all summer, although I had prepared for this day, I was not ready. He...
Slaughterhouse Poems
When My Father Passed Away
This theater is a slaughterhouse
where filaments of grief
are too shifty to cut,
amusing guests who come
along with gestures
broadly understanding
what brought them in,
inscribing very clearly
associations overhanging
with the deceased.
The bereaved insists on
what needs to be preserved
along fertility lines, which
unkind behavior should
be dismembered.
Here,...
Just a Pomelo Fruit
No, not again! Mayla heard herself complain when she saw the long queues. She could not make it on time for her favorite TV news program! There were several long lines towards the waiting buses bearing different sign boards: Monumento, Cubao, Sta. Ana,...
