Oily blotches,
     Bubbly spittles of all sizes
and quantities.
     Ancient bubble gums
Flattened by the perpetual flow
     of automobiles.

Smell of marinated trash
          and murky drain water.
Boisterous vendors,
                    Explosion of horns,
Sardonic, phrasal laughs
               and jeepney muzak.

Incessant white strips,
                        The Shepherds of pilgrims.
Short of breath from

                        the carbon monoxide;
The cold metal bars
                        jabbing at my scoliosis.

Mundane stares,
Yawns and bloodshot eyes,
Seeking forty winks
     Over the clamor.

Montage Vol. 9 • February 2006