Tag: June 6, 2002

Your name sat there

like the rotting meat

of a dead cow.

Mother cooked

nilagang baka

for lunch. I ate

two bowls of

what came

rushing

through

my mouth

as I tried to poke my throat with my dirty finger (a lullaby?),

as I screamed out, “Yes ma, I already fed the toilet!”

I already fed that baby whale, all ceramic and white like its

mother. Sometimes, I’d hear it gurgling, calling out your

No matter how hard you try,

this poem, for you may only

pretend to be a poem:

no dash of salt

no waves nor seagulls

no rose thorns stuck in

an old woman’s tongue.

It’s like a picture

snapped while we were talking

on the phone last night:

my dirty finger was poking

out of my left ear

digging through your muck

of cold sweaty words

(your socks were in your mouth,

your toes were sticking out).

ISINARA ko ang pinto sa aking silid. Tanging ang ilaw ng bilog na buwan na lamang ang naiwang nagbibigay-liwanag. Hinanap ko ang daan papunta sa aking kama at ibinagsak ko roon ang mga dala-dala kong libro. Pagkatapos ay binuksan ko ang mga bintana.

Hinugot ko ang isang kapirasong papel mula sa aking bulsa. Inalis ko ang pagkakatupi nito at iniharap sa kaunting liwanag na nanggagaling sa buwan.

Please advice your parents to meet with the principal regarding your failures.

WHAT does it take to be a good parent? Is it maturity? Patience? Or simply just love?

BILL Manhoff’s The Owl and the Pussycat is not the kind of entertainment you will want to watch if you’re looking for a calm and light-hearted play. The play, Repertory Philippines’ final presentation for its 64th season, is a clash of sensibilities.

This two-character romantic comedy directed by Michael Williams, portrays the extreme differences between Felix Sherman (Paolo Fabregas), a self-righteous and ambitious writer, and Doris Wilgus (Miren Alvarez), an aggressive prostitute and pretentious actress and model.

Poetry

Bridgeable Shores, Selected Poems (1969-2001)
Luis Cabalquinto
Galatea Speaks, New York, 2001

REPRESENTING more than three decades of creativity, Bridgeable Shores is one of the finest poetry books ever published by a Fil-Am author. The book attempts to recreate the poetic terrains of Luis Cabalquinto’s hometown and newfoundland as he struggles to bridge their differences with memory and words.

AN ASSOCIATE Justice of the Supreme Court may intimidate anybody. But this humble man welcomed his interviewer with a sweet smile and took the initiative to break the ice.

“I used to be like you. I used to interview people too,” he said. And truly, his words were very powerful because these mere words immediately created a very relaxed atmosphere between a very distinguished and respected figure and a tense interviewer.

I KNEW it would take us long before we got there. I tried to exhaust myself during the day so I could cut the 12-hour travel short by sleeping.

My companions—Ate Jayme, Ate Lynda, Paul, and Reyann were already dozing off. In minutes, I found myself curled up on my seat in a bus going to Tuguegarao City, Cagayan.

I woke up chilling with the low-temperature climate. In an hour or so, the bus made a stop-over. Nueva Vizcaya, one of the signs read.

THE COMBINED efforts of director Sam Raimi and screenplay writer David Koepp gave birth to the much-awaited motion picture, Spider-man, adapted from the popular Marvel comic book character.

THREE a.m. While most of the population is in deep slumber, Stephen Ray Donato and Jophine Quinto-Mañalac, two incoming fourth year Advertising students were wide-awake and working, late. It did not matter how long they had been up or how much sleep they had lost; there was nothing on their minds but to finish their projects in time for the submission that same day.

Their projects were requirements for their Package Design subject and were official entries to the Post-it Dispenser Making Contest sponsored by 3M Philippines last March.