1. Javie Bengzon
2. Marc Gaba
3. Ramil Gulle
4. Marne Kilates
5. Arkaye Kierulf
6. Kris Lacaba
7. Marie La Vina
8. Issy Reyes
9. Waps San Diego
10. Angelo Suarez
reading starts at 8pm sharp and runs till 930. please do come and bring your 1 to 2 poems if you want to read your stuff for the open mic. thanks!
***
my wife april's birthday today. and i'm reminded of the first poem i gave her 'nung nagpapakyut pa ako. haha..
Thirty
Walking out of the apartment
on a midsummer day
heavy with abandonment,
like a lost cause,
like the passing of love,
like the burning asphalt you endure
for that terrible fear of thirst,
the strange human need
that drives you out,
you feel the world
stopping in the middle of things:
the half hour, the recurring joke
of endless time, the great resting place
between to and fro, here and there,
leave and arrive. Now
you question the point of movement,
choosing the standstill, the deadlock,
the tie. Quiet and loud,
in the halfway of things,
you drink deeply,
from the very heart of time.
happy, happy birthday, be. tumatanda na tayo.
***
Understand
I am not repeating this. There is betrayal
in the repetition, in the required need to repeat,
your voice too low, too whispery, answered
with I’m sorry, left with that certain static
that floods the radio, late nights, repeats
then repeats back to the old dial, forcing fingers
to a steady and gentle prodding that should allow
for reception, recognition, as you settle back
in your chair, leaving the rocking to itself, the stone
alone, underfoot, unturned and convinced
that you are who you say you are, skipping it,
moving on to other concerns, like how to establish
your presence without hitting anything, without
colliding with anything and nothing, loud enough
to be just there, with none of the talk, enduring.
