Bloodletting
Sleeptalker, I wake on bleeding leaves.
Banig bitten beneath me, I must’ve said
a bad word. My mother anointing her
disappointment. I say my sorry, closed my legs,
baptized my bed under the rusty hand pump.
Prayed over long-deaf stomata, its gone sugars.
Then like a good daughter, grounded...
By Rachel Salud
My heart is a wasteland
Of cigarettes smoked to the hilt,
And walls that bear the shadows of rain;
Of tree stumps that never grow,
And seeds that don’t bloom over the concrete earth.
I hide where ants feast over dead roots,
Where broken bottles take the...
By Jonathan Aquino
I.
Any fool can carry a weapon
and even a coward can kill.
I told the warrior as he rose,
drawing his sword as I sat still,
unmoved as death draws near.
II.
He told who he was and how dare I,
I did and there is no need,...
By Sigrid Gayangos
When nights simmered like a lazy summer day,
and months went on without rain,
the ancient ones of Samboangan swim up
to the shore, take off
their scaly clothes, fins and tails,
and tested the land’s hospitality.
But these ancient ones, these fish-folks,
always felt vulnerable on land,
confused...
by Earl Carlo Guevarra
Back when I was a child
I thought revolution was a product
Of blood, sweat, tears and steel
I thought that it was about rallies
And rousing speeches
Laced with tales of bravery and defiance
Maybe a column of tanks here and there
And someone blocking the...
A picture of yourself
Standing on a locked door
Hand dives in that shallow bag
Which can barely move in the
Seafloor of wires.
Strangled with thick and thin
Chargers that actually drains
Black and white chords
Which disconnects from reality
Earphones that shuts the noisy mind
An escape, you said
Yet...
It is not poetry that kills but life.(by Jerry Berryman)
True, I am against yourCharged, pure silk silkenAnd crumby softI need polyester for strength, But only...
Shoes
Paper cutouts folded to fit
my back pocket. I carry them along
through bus ride and train tracks.
I’ll be gone for a few hours.
My daughters look...
As the car was winding down Zigzag roadOne sizzling afternoonI gazed at smoke billowing, spiraling up the sky from a distant mountainGreen turning brown...