Montage

My friends got to the streets,
Raised fists and raged
Against the power of the gun
And the writ of lawyers and hoodlums.
They bombed the establishment
With hoarse voices shrapneled
And got their pictures on the front pages.

I sat in chairs nine to five (often more),
And got their goat
For not marching in the public rage:
There were mouths to feed Read more »

“Five words in a line.”
—Gertrude Stein

and the epigraph,
this poem has

five six-word couplets
(“six-word” is one

compound word)—three
words per line—

amounting to forty-one
words in all.

(“Forty-one” is one
compound word too.)

Montage Vol. 11 • September 2008

You have gone this far
To discover
That you did not have
To go this far;
Yet it is too far
And too late
Not to have gone this far.
Time is
A one-way highway.
Regret is a waste.
The only way
Is ahead.
Virtue is necessity.
The only question is
The onward step
From here.
Turning back is a lie.
The only truth
Of choice lies ahead.
And the only choice
Is between choice
And choice.
For the future
Is choice,
So, free it is. Read more »

Sa matimyas na pagtatalik ng hangin at tubig,
doon sa mahiwagang sinapupunan ng dagat
unti-unti kang nabuo, nagkahugis hanggang sa ganap
na isilang sa maputing buhanginan.

Alindog ng katawan mong walang saplot na iginuhit
sa pinong dalampasigan: hinahagkan ng araw at
buwan, dinidilaan ng alon, hinihimod ng bula,
niyayakap ng hangin. Anong pag-aangkin ng iyong
kaluluwa! May hihigit pa ba sa ganitong
maluwalhating tanawin?

Kariktan mo’y kapilas ng isang pangarap, gumigising
sa kamalayan at pandamang mistulang makina.
Yaman kang nakaladlad: inaangki’y di maigapos, Read more »

Pamana ng madugong kasaysayan
Ilog na ginawang basurahan
Ilog na ginawang palikuran
Ilog na ginawang libingan
Ilog na kinitil ng kemikal
Ilog na nilapastangan ng balana
Ilog na pinandidirihan
Ilog ng pagkutya
Ilog ng hapis
Ilog ng kabalintunaan
Ilog ng kapabayaan
Ilog ng kahihiyan
Ilog ng kawalang pag-asa
Ilog ng kadustaan
Ilog ng maling kahatulan
Larawan ng maitim na nasa
Larawan ng kawalang paggalang
Mutya ng burak
Mutya ng kahapong nagmaliw
Lakambini ng walang budhing kabihasnan
Musa ng kaloobang bulok
Binibining ginahasa ng kaunlaran
Kabiyak ng marungis na lungsod Read more »