Homesick (Brooklyn, New York 1995)

As I walk with heavy boots
Laced with late winter slush
On these deserted sidewalks
I pull my coat closer to my chin
Clutch my tattered gloves tighter
I still shiver!
The pale moon peeks with reluctance
Only to give me a hunched sullen shadow
And the old elm trees lining the streets
Bowing to console me, lay frozen, leafless.
My breaths are slow, shallow
As if to ward away the windchill
Seeping through stoic brownstones.
So, I gather my coat even closer
Clutch my gloves even tighter
But never ever conquer the cold
Creeping thru my brown-skinned core
Yearning for the warmth of a sun
That only shines
In those very far
Far fareastern skies.

An Danaw

Nangahaylot an mga tayubtob
Nagkamang an santamariya
Kay taghiluan an danaw
Nangamatay an mga pijanga

Nuhubas an tubig
Tagkujaji an mga pagusi
Napuo an mga buaja
Tagpabuthan nan dinamita

Mag-santelmo pag-utro
Sa sirin nan ako mga damgo
Kay namadhan an danaw
Tagsujop nan imo kauhaw

Malad-ang an hangin
Nag asu an kalibutan
Nolutaw an kampana
Nahayu, nabungoy

Nan imo katampalasan
Hakug na mga katuigan.

Half-forgotten Dream

Suddenly from the blur
Of sleep wafting
With colorless dreams
Alive came
The denouement
Of the lump
That choked my throat
And left me half-awake
In Kussmaul's breath
Now in a trance lulled
By soulful maya chirps
These pregnant memoirs
Of childhood loves and mirth
Lost in swirling time
Leaving a nameless feeling
Haunting, throbbing,aching
As the new dawn
Dares to break.

The Lake(Mainit Lake, Mainit, Surigao del Norte, Philippines)

There is something
In the lake that
Beckons me back
To where it all started

The thrill that strokes my spine
In scaling the marsh
The soft sighs I heave
As a green garter snake
Crosses a narrow path
The allure that secret
Islands of hyacinths possess
The mild scent of banyan trunks
That graze my skin
The freshwater tang
Left on my sunbaked hair
The childlike joy
In scooping out innocent fries
Along the intrepid riverbank

The mystery of my ancient spirit
Piece by piece repaired.

Dreaming Palawan(1992) @ St. Paul Subterranean River, Palawan, Philippines

Where the mangroves are,
The life chain starts.

Their yellowed decomposing leaves
Add murkiness to the mud
All the silt and debris collect
At their mangled roots beneath
From the putrid flesh
Of worms that failed to fly
To the thickened dust on their barks
The venomous molt and hide.

But from the same milieu of decay
A billion plankters also thrive
From which fishes subsist
Which in turn become food
So that men may live.

Where the mangroves are,
Whose fearful silhouette at night
Kisses an enchanted full moon sometimes.