Monday, November 12, 2012

Two Poems in the PH Graphic Mag

They're already available in the newstands, I heard, but I can't seem to get my hands on a copy of the Philippines Graphic mag.

As I wrote last month, my poems "A Sense of Loss" and "Habagat" appear in the magazine's issue for the week of November 5, 2012. Posting them here:


A Sense of Loss

The body is a cruel thing
wise, like the spirit,
like that little voice within
that whispers of odds
something is changing
yet, while the voice can be silenced,
senses are always acknowledged

much like how, before rains,
my skin crawls as though beset
by unseen ghosts, passing.
Yes, the body knows,
but it doesn’t understand
there are things
we just don’t want to know.

You are the same
but I can’t ignore how
your skin on mine
has become an annoyance;
your voice some noise
that disrupts my reading.

Somehow, I’ve returned to days
when it didn’t make a difference
whether or not someone waited
or met me at the door
and what of this dizziness
frequent tremors
haunting migraines
fever and tasteless tongue?

It feels much like grief
but right now, I don’t have to
put a name to it.
Things are going so well
and we still have a movie to catch
this Saturday.



Habagat

Jesus walked on water
            when the rains hit
            we walked in smog-gray waters
            that rippled over our knees
            I imagined I was San Pedro
            but all I did was slosh and wade

Genesis 8:7-12
            we never got home
            mudwaters rose higher
            than the riverbank trees
        we were being punished
the bishops said
what did we do this time?
my brother is down there
I cried for forgiveness

On the third day, he rose again
            people reciting the Creed
            while I ate noodles and sardines
        in the tomb of the Cruz family
        they’re keeping the ghosts away
but I worried more for my brother
nowhere in this shelter
has he joined our many friends
previously buried by Ondoy?

Revelation           
they said you’re nameless
            rain or flood isn’t good enough
            to remember you by
            but I’ll always know you
            by my brother’s name…
            still missing. still missing.

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