Remember, remember, the fifth of November. Leaving home by the faint light of the rising sun. Its streaks bathing the canopies with hazy gold, as your feet forged their own path. Clambering down the slope of soil, a long bed of rock awaits. Into the very womb of nature, you walked the forested trails.
Remember, remember, the fifth of November. You fancied seeing him for the first time. Curious as a cat on how he’d talk or react if you ever say poetry or love. “He won’t arrive,” you surmised. Indeed, he was nowhere to be found. And so you remember this day as a matrimony of both happy and sad.
Borrowing this phrase from the English folk verse, The Fifth of November. This one’s for the soul who let me watch V for Vendetta and introduced me to Guy Fawkes. The very same one who didn’t show up a year ago on this day. 😂😊
It’s 9:52. The night is young yet the house is full. People are coming in and out of the front door. On a dim corner, behind the gate, a man is throwing up.
“I need a drink,” he thought of storming in but stopped at the sight a familiar face.
Five years— she never changed. Laughing with her head back, he guesses her black shirt still carries a statement. Like “Down With Big Brother” or “Go Queer”.
“Don’t,” the word came late and before he knew it, he was walking towards the one who got away. The dice is rolled. Fuck what ifs and the mutilated could-have-beens.
“On the worst-case scenario, at least I can act as drunk fool.”
Took this photo on a poetry night at a local coffee shop here in Cebu. The place was filled with too many hopeless romantics that night.
She pushed herself through the crowd. Away from the hoard of bodies rocking to the music, sweating and screaming on top of their lungs. She headed southeast, walked the dimly lit boulevard and reached the familiar place she’s been missing. The quaint diner is still shy of people and the Day of the Dead has left it empty. From a distance, the concert went on.
“Why are they celebrating death?” She mused.
Finding a vacant bench, she sat side by side with nostalgia. Fragments of memories played on loop. She had to laugh. “It really is the day of ghosts.”
Starting today, writers and bloggers around the globe join the National Novel Writing Month (NoNoWriMo). It is an annual one-month quest where literary minds commit to writing 50,000 words in the 30 days of November. But since an average of approximately 1,667 words per day is a far cry for my turbulent mind, I’ve decided to get back into micro stories. A hundred word a day for the lazy muse. Who’s doing the same? 😀
I remember standing in this corner of the street. A once timid soul staring blankly at the stoplights, waiting for a signal if I should stop or go. Cars speeding to and fro with blaring lights, I remember my heart beating like a drum. Too afraid and too cynical if I could make it to the other side of the road. Seconds turned into minutes, I waited until the hour hands forced me to move along. Day after day, this has been my routine. Until I found you you found me.
Eyes on the map, you were looking for this corner of the street. Strange and hilarious — that is how I thought back then. Perhaps you heard about the girl that was always stuck in the crossroad. Or you wanted to know what magic draws her to this place. And so in this corner of histories and mysteries, things have changed.
I no longer dread the stoplights. My feet now know when to stop or go. And when I’m afraid or cynical, I have a hand pulling me close. Leading me to the other side of the road. Heart still beating like a drum, I know it wasn’t because of the speeding cars. It was something else. It was you.
The trees kept quiet
As a new story unfolds—
Two souls, one crossroad
In response to dVerse’s Haibun Monday: Transitions hosted by Merril D. Smith who asked us to write about change, but specifically, to write about a transitional time in our life.
This specific corner in IT Park has always been a special place to me. It has inspired a number of poems before— and it still do. Looking back at one of the pieces I wrote, I find it amusing how things have changed. I used to write about chaos, but now this place reminds of being brave.
dawn breaks,
and the early bird sees
where to fill its breakfast plate
flying high above the land
of lofty, mighty lords—
in the brown patch of the earth
the worms wriggle
from decays in its burrow
feeding over hungry peasants
deprived of tomorrow
In response to dVerse’s Quadrille #67: early hosted by Kim.
Three days after I wrote a tribute piece to the working hands of mothers and coconut farmers, the Philippines awakened to a dreadful news. Nine sugarcane workers, including two minors and four women, in Sagay City, Negros Occidental, were brutally murdered by unidentified men. As if we never had enough of the 1985 Escalante Massacre, the 1987 Mendiola Massacre, the 2004 Hacienda Luisita Massacre, the 2016 Kidapawan Massacre — along with thousands of killings in the context of the peasant struggle. This war against the people and war against the poor is sickening.
The palace shouts of Red October. Now they got blood in their hands.
i love her but her hands—
from her graying hair to her calloused feet
my heart brims with love
but her hands bring me pain
hands the held our family together
hands that gathered woods to cook meals
hands that eased her son’s worry
hands that brushed her daughter’s hair
loving hands
selfless hands
working hands
praying hands
i love her but her hands
tell of stories that are too painful to read
veins detailing the days
she strained herself to fatigue
last night, i found another scar
from hands bearing the day’s hard work
she broke twenty extra coconut shells,
my mother said with pride
a look at those hands gave me pain
loving hands
selfless hands
working hands
praying hands
i never thought my mother’s hands were that small
some days they’re clasped forming a zipper of prayer
some days they’re clenched into a fist thrown in the air
a reminder of the empty promises of the present and past
i love her but her hands—
from her graying hair to her calloused feet
my heart brims with love
if only i could make those hands my own.
In response to dVerse’s Poetics: Beauty in Ugliness hosted by Mish who challenges us to find the beauty in the ugly. Image by @nate_dumlao.
As I struggle to find a topic for a poem, an image kept on poking in my head. It was my mother’s hands. Aging as they are… and tired. I was raised by a family of farmers, generations deeply rooted in agriculture. Although I was not of much help in the rice field (if playing scarecrow as a child counts), I was exposed to copra making. I remember the sweat. The late nights spent working. I remember my parent’s tired eyes.
This piece, aside from finding beauty in the ugly, is a tribute to the coconut farmers in my country. In the face of politics and empty promises, I hope they find justice to their plight.
5:10 Tila hindi na sila nasanay sa bigat— ng muta.
5:14 Makapagkape nga.
5:17 Teka.
5:17 Walang tubig.
5:18 Itutuloy ko pa ba?
5:22 Wow. Iba din.
5:23 Binuhusan ba ‘to ng pintura ni Van Gogh?
5:23 Ang ganda ng langit.
5:24 Naalala ko na naman.
5:25 Wala pa akong kape.
5:29 Wala ka din sa aking tabi.
5:30 Ba’ t bigla kang nasama sa usapan?
5:31 Sabagay.
5:32 Simula’t huli, hindi ka naman nawala sa isip. Sa paggising sa umaga hanggang sa pagsapit ng gabi. Matamlay man o makulay ang langit. Maging sa eskinita ng 6th st. Sa lamig ng ice cream. Sa init ng kape.
5:33 Kape.
5:34 Kailangan ko pala ng kape.
5:34 At ikaw sa aking tabi.
5:39 Kailan ba ito matatapos?
5:40 Ang tagal naman ng oras.
5:41 Mapanukso ang bawat segundo. Gusto ko silang itulak papalayo. Pabilisin ang pagtakbo ng mga minuto. Ayoko nang kumapit sa kamay orasan. At sa kung ano pang mga pangako ang hawak nito.
5:42 Nakakatakot.
5:45 Nakakasilaw na.
5:45 Natapos na pala ang pamimitak ng araw.
5:47 Kailangan ko nang tumayo. Ayaw mo nga pala sa mga hindi nag-aalmusal.
5:48 Tatayo.
5:49 Matutulala.
5:50 Kailangan ko muna kasi ng kape.
5:53 At pwede bang ikaw na rin sa aking tabi?
5:55 Limang minuto. Limang minutong pagnakaw ngiti. Pagkalaban sa oras na tila galit na tayo’y pagsamahin.
5:55 Itutuloy ko pa ba?
5:56 Oo na. Tama na.
5:57 Tatayo na.
5:59 Panibagong araw na naman ang haharapin.
6:00 Makapag-init nga ng tubig.
It has been a while since I’ve written a Tagalog Poem (or any poem for that matter). This piece is a poem and a story in one. A shoutout to the coffee lovers and to the lovers of dawn.
P.S. I tried to write an English translation but didn’t like how it turned out. So in defeat, with a hint of distress, I’m posting this as it is. Below is a snippet and probably the gist of the whole piece. 🙂
i try to bury the pain and blink.
with eyes moving from tab after tab, ears focused on the mechanical tapping of keyboards, i try to forget their names.
The first tab led me to 9gag. A GIF of a “normal night” in an english pub flashed before my eyes. Drunken men fighting each other, brawling for fun. It was supposed to make me laugh— but it didn’t. The images of bodies thrown on burning houses played at the back of my mind. Blood flows to the river banks as the women of Rohingya shout in pain.
blink.
I clicked the second tab that led me to Bored Panda. A list of surprisingly simultaneous historical events that will change the way you think of history caught my eye. I couldn’t get past after the odds of Prisoners Arriving At Auschwitz Just Days After Mcdonald’s Was Founded were mentioned. I felt my stomach flipped at the thought of death camp. My mind traveled back to Syria. What are the odds of living for the displaced refugees? Then to indonesia, will they be handed their rights?
blink.
On a desparate attempt to shun the looming gloom in my head, I tried the last tab. The literature page, my second virtual haven next to my blog. The poetry section listed Edgar Allan Poe’s A Dream Within a Dream on the top. His words pierced me with added force and I plunged into the depths of helplessness head first. Is this life just one big false awakening? Are the endless murders and tortures just part of a nightmare?
i try to bury the pain and blink.
closing the tabs, unplugging the chords, i stared at the black screen
hoping to forget their names.
I wrote this a month ago, on one afternoon I immersed myself in the world news. I did not pusblish it because I was disheartend with what was happening. Still is. But back then the pain was too raw for me to share it in this blog. The cynic and existentialist in me has taken over my head, asking questions that could not be answered. Or perhaps I just do not accept.
I was not at the wrong place at the wrong time. Their eyes followed me with a laugh— or perhaps a mock— as I sit on the stand. My anguish did not mean a thing and I only reaped what I have sown.
I was asking for it.
When my shaking hands pointed at man across the room, I saw them smirk. My giggles the other night begged to differ the word I am trying to utter, R A P E.
I was asking for it.
Before the judge, the defense flashed a picture of my girlfriends and I. Hands holding a glass of vodka, laughing with our heads thrown back, the neon lights flashed before our tight miniskirts. I felt dirty with shame as I buried my face in my palms.
I was asking for it.
I should have known better the moment I slipped into my short skirts and high heels. I should have known the danger and the danger I bring. You see where this is going, right? When a man twice your age stops you with a leering face, it is your fault. Men will be men, and we are but a single piece plucked from their ribcage that they need to reclaim. It has always been their birthright.
I was to blame when his groin pressed down on me as his tongue slithered all over my skin. My shouts were that of ecstasy. My tears were that of joy, they say. I fucking liked it because my breath quickened with every thrust!
I was asking for it.
He showed the marks on his back with pride. That night, I buried my fingernails deep into his skin. God, I wished they were knives. Each night, the bare wall in my bedroom echoes his moans. His groans. The sound of slap from an unrecognizable monster plays on repeat. No anti-depressant or pill can help me sleep.
I wish they were knives.
I wish to be guilty of murder.
I wish I had killed that man.
I was never told being a woman is an open invitation to be fucked. That I am a platter of legs, thighs, breasts, and neck served for hungry beasts to devour. And when the meat is handed free, what kind of animal would dare to scowl?
I was asking for it, wasn’t I?
“Duterte, in a speech in Mandaue City, joked that his hometown of Davao City has a high number of reported rape cases because it has many beautiful women. Those who attended the President’s engagement laughed at the joke.” –GMA News
This is Philippines. Where a president jokes of pardons for soldiers who rape. Offers Filipino ‘virgins’ to foreigners with purchasing power. And orders soldiers to shoot women rebels in the vagina, so they become ‘useless.’ This is not the first time and it will not be the last.
This morning, through a friend’s post, I read a circulating issue regarding one Angkas driver here in Cebu. Angkas, a motorcycle ride-hailing service accessed through a mobile booking app, has been one of our reliable mode of transportation for quite some time. It appears that he was pressing the lady passenger to come with him to a motel.
This afternoon, in a sports warehouse, a man kept on stealing a gaze. As I was checking out shoes, he brushed his hands to mine “by accident”.
Tonight, as I get out of work, I do not want to go home. I assessed I have gotten used to it but the thought of men giving you catcalls and ogle as you pass by them is equal parts disturbing and tiring.
No harm done, they say. But what of the seconds we spent holding our breaths? What of the palms curled into a fist, just in case? What of the trembling knees? What of the fear as we breathe? Don’t these count?
