Category: Poetry

For Dina

Poetry by | September 26, 2010

Early morning when you left without saying goodbye
Frantic about meeting a schedule or so
You should have wakened me up
To cook omelet for you and pack your lunch
For the long trip to meet your schedules
Wiping the early morning sweat from your brow
As you go.

But the schedule has to come first
Early as early can be
You may have prodded the pedal to the floor
Squeezing the last gasoline drop
One hundred twenty measures to the hour.

Later at night I could no longer expect
Your light kiss as you arrive
From meeting your schedule or so
Your cold body arriving
In a hearse of the funeral parlor
In Bacolod we hired to pry
The crumpled car open.

—-
Elmer Sayre is a Dipolognon now living in Initao, Misamis Oriental, as a gentleman farmer and a free-lance social development consultant.

Hyposmia

Poetry by | September 19, 2010

Maybe it was not the sea-breeze
you smelled but your tears
after your long try to understand
fragrance.
I tell you, a bouquet of roses
is not enough for you to smell
love.

My comrade loves you. Ask him
to crush the fallen petals
of lilies and orchids in the wild.
Let him perspire.
The scent of sweat is sweet
when offered for love.
Then forget about the flowers.

Go with him in the jungles.
He will tell you which river
is safer to cross.
Rivers, unlike seas, keep
more danger. He knows it.
Because of the water’s smell?
Perhaps. With the enemies
around, a river stinks.
You may not be able to smell
the danger of that river.
But his breaths and whispers
will tell you the fragrance
of the word trust.
You are not alone, with him
and with the masses.

No cure for your hyposmia?
Ah, I regret, my friend.
Your crush’s cologne may smell good.
But did he know you cared?
Smell is not a feeling.
What feels better is to have
someone with you who would savor
the sweetness of a mango.
Or maybe someone who would leave
another set of footprints
beside yours, along the shore.

—-
Paul Randy Gumanao is a BS Chem Student at AdDU who recently attended the IYAS Creative Writing Workshop 2010.

Summer's Tears

Poetry by | September 19, 2010

limitless, yet limited.
i’m back to my one-two beat.
lips sweetly bruised,
i’m at the best location
at the almost perfect hour
the moments of which
i don’t really remember.

your heat
and the firsts of many things
and nothing new
are what make this summer sizzle

and what put summer’s tears
to utter shame.

—-
Krizia Banosan Garcia makes the most of life being a tambay.

This Stolen Moment

Poetry by | September 12, 2010

It feels right to lie
down on these sheets
damped with our own sweat.
It must be like falling
in love with them,
as I for you,
where we hide
ourselves, naked
like truth, secured enough
to let go of our fears
tonight that I’m the one
whom you fix your eyes on.
Not him. Not even
his eyes, dazzling of love-
promises, like the diamond
you let him wear
‘round your finger.
Like the pearls
he surprised you
after your first, I wish
your last, anniversary kiss.
Unlike our love alone
that can’t afford
to objectify itself
through those shiny stones.
Tonight I can care
less. Or not at all. Since there’s
no absence of heat
when it comes to your touch
like you do to me
on these sheets we have
rented for a short time.
Like each chance
your lips warm the chill-
worn cracks of mine
that makes me realize
how cold the night
like the accusation
of the world outside
that says we’re wrong.

—-
Gino studies at Xavier University – Ateneo de Cagayan, Cagayan de Oro City.

Covered

Poetry by | September 5, 2010

wings of a butterfly
covered my eyes
So gentle, so sweet
so smooth like a dye.

Reasons are not here
to answer me why;
why those gentle wings
made me smile,
made me cry.

—-
Reymond Pepito is a Mass Comm student from Ateneo de Davao University.

Ga-i Ko'g Itik, Parts

Poetry by | September 5, 2010

Parts, daghan man daw itik sa inyong tugkaran?
Naa kay mahatag nako?
Kanang nindot ug lawas, ha?
Kanang maayo mokimbot
Sa iyahang sampot.

Ayaw nang sobra katambok
Basin dali ra kayo hangoson.
Ug usa pa, di ko ana,
Kusog man gud na mokaon.

Ayaw pud nang niwang
Basin dali ra kaayo kapoyon.
Ug usa pa, di ko ana,
Wa may lami kaonon ang bukogon.

Kanang sakto lang og lawas
Para maigo sa akong kalha,
Kung asa siya akong lutoon
Aron sa kalipay ako iyang busogon.

—-
Si Jayson Parba usa ka magtotodlo sa Capitol University, Cagayan de Oro City.

Ang Lata

Poetry by | August 29, 2010

Adunay naglaray na mga lata
Sudlanan sa tinapa.
Akong gipangtutuk matag-usa.
Ang mga haguka
Mas lanog ug paka.

—-
Ronald Jay Rama is a graduate of Ateneo de Davao University.

Sawa Na

Poetry by | August 22, 2010

Sawang-sawa na ko sa t’wing ako ay tinatangay,
Ng kamalasan at para na ba akong bibigay,
Minsan nga’y iniisip ko sa kabaong na mahimlay,
At hintayin na lang ang oras na akoy mamatay.

—-
Jhunrojim Caumbo Zandueta is a sophomore Computer Engineering student at ADDU.