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Philippines Graphic Reader
The Pruning and Other Poems
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 frugal,
light-handed,
bent shrubs
are rain-heavy,
grit-weary,
saddled with
the days
of May’s
cloud weeping.
This June
cuts back
to essential
bone, the boughs
watered
& wounded.
Fold your knees
before the muted
ground, listen
to the...
The Nature of the Beast
THE MOTORIZED BOAT DELIVERED AN ear-splitting growl, then a moan, and we were aground — the steer man, his co-pilot, and I — in the shallow water. I grumbled loud when I realized that we would have to wade the rest of the...
My Magnificat
In the Marian month of October
Magnificent madness
My savage spirit you stunned
Bones leap out to dance
Something inside
You touched and exploded
Unleashing the torrent of one hundred springs
That rush to embrace
The vineyards lost in my memory
O blessed be
Walls you have broken down
Oppressors you pinned to...
Cassandra’s Tale
Leafing through the brittle pages and reading the short story again and again, Cassandra seeks the rhyme and rhythm she thinks necessary for it to flow water-like into the mind’s nooks and crannies, and thereby gather sufficient momentum to push itself forward, whether...
SHARK WALL KEY
(Or Triste at the Santa Barbara Sea Center)
Maybe it was the quiet desperation of the
sea horse, holding on to a spine of sea grass
inside a cobalt blue aquarium that brought it on.
Or perhaps the distressed Stingray flicking
a missing tail, as the frantic hands...
The Long Road to Capiz
The dawn had barely broken, the rooster was still asleep, and stillness enveloped the sleepy village of Casanayan. There was no moonbeam for now since it was a new moon, so the room, carrying the scent of aged wood and memories, was wrapped...
