Poetry by Miguel Antonio Lizada | March 15, 2009
You are a bag
of scented
and bleached
habits,
shuttled down
the corridors
of the city
to a different floor
in this condominium
of your choices.
Empty your pockets then
for a currency of new faces
and a handkerchief
to ball up words
ought not to be said.
Poetry by Dennis Sto. Domingo | March 9, 2009
Anak,
Hindi tayo laging may pagkakataong ganito
Kaya kailangang pagbutihin natin
Ang pagpiling ito.
Di tayo dapat kukuha ng matakaw
Sapagkat baka sa kanyang kahayukan
Pagkain natin mismo’y kanyang lantakan.
Sa kawag ng buntot, di dapat padala
Pagkat baka sa husay nyang makisama
Magnanakaw, sa ‘ting bahay makitira.
Hindi rin tamang pilii’y puro porma
Pagkat baka pati mismong suot nati’y
Kuning pampakintab ng balahibo nya.
Di rin uubra ang napakatalino
Pagkat dahil sa di magkaintindihan
Pamumuhay nati’y lalong magkagulo.
Anak,
Mahirap talaga ang gawaing ito
Kaya kailangang pagsanibin natin
Karanasan ko’t silakbo mo.
(after TALA)
Coming back
out from abyss, I am closer
than I have ever been
to be suspended in the air for so long
falling
at the same time not
Shattering is a dream
to break into many pieces
and disperse like steam
off something very, very cold
on a sticky sunny day.
The cold agony
is past comfort
a mother’s embrace that is far away
How could I have known that happiness came in a cage?
Poetry by Nej Gerasta | March 4, 2009
My dream is the sky.
sober and Defy
My hope is an island.
still, glistening sand
My fear is the ocean.
succumb. Overcome
My light is the sun.
resolute. Stanch
My love is the wind.
seize. Sustain
Or else, fall.
Poetry by Bong Eliab | February 22, 2009
Ang dampi ng malambot na balat;
Madulas dala ng pawis.
Nanaig ang katawang pumipiglas;
Sa ilalim na maninipis na kumot.
Habang nanaghoy ang hangin sa bintana,
Mga mata nangungusap;
Humihingi ng pagkakataon
Na isantabi ang mga alinlangan.
Nagsimula sa mga labi,
Animo’y taong naghahanap ng landas sa gabi
Na may malalim na pagnanasa
Mapusok na pangangailangan.
Nagsumpungan ang mga dila sa kalagitnaan;
Mainit na buntong hininga;
Uhaw na uminom ng alak
Sa umalimpuyong kapusukan.
Poetry by Don Pagusara | February 15, 2009
as soon as the doctor proclaimed
a state of emergency of my heart’s ischemia
owing to the adventurism of a small artery
surreptitiously collecting deposits of cholesterol
from uncontrolled greed for pork and other
corrupt and decadent pleasures of the mouth
as soon protest movements start to sprout
among the citizenry in my oral cavity–the gums
began to turn red as they congest at the edges;
the tongue used to habits of a true gourmet,
kept twisting restlessly like a jailed cadre
of a banned revolutionary labor party;
the teeth gritted noisily simulating diligence
of mimeo machines spewing leaflets, handouts
and manifestos on eve of a mammoth rally;
and oh, the cheeks have widened, perchance
to accommodate slogans in doggerel verse
as wails on jerusalem’s walls (?)–let alone, o my god!
the hushed underground writhing by armpit hairs!
and pubic hairs’ wriggling like medusa’s serpentine anger!
how can my body’s army of muscle and flesh now
execute with dispatch this heart’s scheming desires?
Poetry by Errol Merquita | February 15, 2009
gibaligya ang among saging
sa Tokyo ug gitagaan
ug daghang bulig ang Manila
gipanitan, gihiwa-hiwa
gibahin-bahin nila
bisan sa panit
wa mi naangkon
apan tua mi nabilin
sa aping sa kutsilyo
isip usa ka lagom
nga salin
katong gihiwa
ninyo ang among yuta
ug ang among mga
sugilanon tua mi nabilin
sa aping sa lagaraw,
nagkadugo
nagkadugo pag-apil ang among
yuta.
Poetry by Maryanne Lobaton | February 8, 2009
pale crimson and orange palette
painted in that endless canvas
with the final rays of the sun
sinking over the horizon;
the blades of cogon grasses turn
into dark, dancing silhouettes –
the best twilights, i left at home…
now, i see no velvet sunsets
and no dancing cogon grasses –
just a lone lightpost by the street.