POEMS 1. The Marty Martyr r – Nick Nick Joaqu Joaquin in Being in love means never having to say you’re sorry After After all, at some point in your life That love was the most important important thing to you, That love might be the one that that you hoped would last forever, forever, That love made you believe believe that destiny does exist, exist, And that love made you question, Why you were afraid to fall in love in the rst place
At that time in your life, !verything "ust seemed so perfect, !verything seemed so beautiful, !verything seemed to glow for you, And you were my everything
# wouldn$t even thin% twice about sacricing my own happiness for yours, # was even willing to bare up this walled but crumpled heart of mine, &ust so # could be with you All # ever did was care for you All # ever did was to ma%e you happy And all # ever did was love you
#n love means never having to say you’re sorry
But # needed to as% forgiveness from the one who was hurt the most' (yself
2. The Sea Cannot Touch – Cirilo F. Bautista The sea cannot touch me now )or the s%y #n this room whose arms are *our arms
They would spell the night # too% you for my wife # do not thin% of candles in that church Though they were there
+riest the words though they Were there # thin% only of your sad Beautiful face following
The nothing therethe nothing To construct our lives withhoping The singing birds would come And house among its branches
. Ba!el – "llan Po#a -ight sets the heights
Towering past clouds what is pursued by the eye .emains ungraspable within the eye$s reach
At the edge of the gathering, ruin
Where to nd fullness/
Before everything, the bustling clamor 0speech1
A, momentary pause 0a drop of hush1
As the saying goes, an angel in transit 0a %not in the tongue$s logic1
Afterwards, a horde of angels
Afterwards, the sense That something will ta%e place 0a portent1 Approaching a summit
The instant before once again
2od$s hand plummets
Again, what was stalled at the tip of Adam$s tongue #n straining for the fruit 0a savored refusal1
The one word 3ere
This remaining nameless
$. Mor#o – "llan Po#a 4rom the leftmost, towards nitude$s margins, is silence expelled
A heavy door ushering in 5tterance
(ovement is sure6footed in the narrowness of what$s allowed Towards the chasm$s edge, in the pause Before facing the vanishing point Although reappearing 5ntil the door of what$s possible #s sealed completely
There is a mystery to this line There is a hand that intervenes between having been And being
)othing ever returns
As through a hinge, around which the opening revolves Weighted shac%les to the heavy footfall 0remember, nothing ever returns1
The immaculate page stops the mouth
There are lips imprinting the emptiness -training towards form
Wanting speech/
4rom the leftmost .eappearing Weighted footfalls .emember
Towards nitude$s margins
While outside, a world of noise bleeds through
And beyond the world, stillness Also %nown as edgeless space
7n this line the world whirls
%. &'a(o – "llan Po#a The insects %now
Theirs the numberless proof Therefore true
They who cloa% the noon 7f explanation
)umberless wing6shadow
What ripeness is #n air, inhering A6hum -catter a stful
-tare at small hands #n gloom 0lac%ing1
8issolving before touching earth 0gravity$s roost1
A %ind of hunger
4rom arid ground, bodies (ounting each other
-cales peeling o9 tight coils
Afterwards, a breeding swarm 0droning1
+regnant wave parched from cresting 0brief lives, murmuring1
Amounting6to, mounting, surmounting
)o surface scarring over
)o remains remaining
). Ton(ues o* "n(els – "llan Po#a They unfold their wings The shadows they create
4ail to dar%en the earth
They watch Without once batting an eye Without once turning their bac%s
Without once shielding Their faces with hands They cannot lift from their trumpets
-ometimes they are visited by the memory 7f voice They long to open their mouths But cannot spea%
What is a tongue if not a piece 7f :esh that can never be swallowed
+. Crossin( – "llan Po#a The nuns on the shore ga;ing into the river There$s unease in their eyes #t$s the hour the water begins to swell
7ne wades into the water to feel how cold The others follow her to cross They enter the water, one shadowy wave
Almost as if their legs measure 3ow bit by bit the river deepens !ach foot gropes for the next step that will hold
5ntil their garments soa% up water They pause and loo% about They see each other$s faces
-lowly, they lift their garments Their eyes close as the hems pass their %nees The river :ows with its noises
The cold crawls up their bodies They feel their garments gather weight And adhere to their hidden curves #n the middle of the river, They hear the distant vesper bells toll -hivering, they sing their hymns
,. Teacher-s Prayer – .". /illanue0a Blessed are you, maidens of the one hundred and eighty afternoons *ou of the cough at the rst inhale *ou of the cut school for the seashore *ou of the sequined nails, the powdered
!yes, the bree;e of lilac and lavender *ou of the still6open door
Blessed are you, child of the bro%en 3eart, the half6healed ventricle *ou, the chamber voice, the madrigal
*ou of the grandmother’s abattoir 3idden among the exits of the )ew &ersey Turnpi%e *ou bac%stro%ing 7phelias and => pencils
*ou of the boardwal% tattoo, of the snapping latex, of the pierced Tragus, of the soft cartilage *ou of the essays in arabesques, the hearts above The #’s, the diary left out on purpose, the origami messages, The whispered consonants +ray for us
*ou who roll *our eyes in their painted soc%ets who A?x his last name to yours on your noteboo%s +ray for us
*ou who can still pic% and choose *ou who manicure your faces full 7f the spar% and sweat of future days +ray for us
. " Mortal /o – onelo Colla'ar (y one mind mends a mortal vow And holds her cold hand @til the end # %new # need my mother’s cow To please the people whom #’ve lent These cord and veil create the life That most of us eager to love )ot from the other but own wife The strange we feel is a white dove
*eah, mine heart will not wall you out #f ever storms might have to dance -pea% because # believe no doubt 4or sure #’d only fallen once 3igh altar should we remember Where we held here the rst 2od’s will Though this abbey seems 8ecember 7ur gestures of blissfulness dwell
Whenever a gale of wind spo%e To the left sway after the right And we need not a pu9 of smo%e While waiting times to spea% of bright
13.
The Co0enant – Noel /illarosa
Ta%e my humbleness, # submit myself To a great 2od, that feels my lowliness # have sinned fear to be left on the shelf # have been inspired by 3is 3oliness
3ates dwell on us, wic%ed dimmed the light 4or the reason of 3is crucixion 3e dealt agony longer than the night The sin labeled in our soul’s inscription
4or a long time, faith coated with verglas 2one are many squalls during the daylight All the noble trees stunted bladed grass The wind whispers name for a wa%eful :ight
We are dust, and to dust, we shall return 3is resurrection, no one left forlorn
