original sadness

There is no difficult way to sadness.
This has always been our open secret
Despite our efforts to cruise and get lost
In this sea of distractions, in someone’s arms,
Or in someone else’s. One day, we would find
Ourselves rooted again on where we had just
Left off. I understand poetry both knows
And doesn’t know why. We, it remains,
Are the only ones who absolutely do.
We believe we do. But when all else fails,
We would search for it, search for words
That would reveal glimpses of paradise,
And we would think of all the comely things
We can say with and without seeing them.
Maybe I simply understood the honey in pain,
Its heirloom tang indelible like promises.

poem in slate 2013

I almost forgot about this until someone gave me the heads up. My poem “Poetry as a Lesson in History” is one of the literary works published in the Slate 2013 Planner.

As stated in their official website, “the Slate Planner exhibits more stunning visual creations by local and international artists, both well-known and yet to be discovered. Be inspired by the works Kitkat Pecson, The Creative Dork, Vincent Raphael Aseo, JR Bumanglag, and Singaporean artist, Eeshaun. Aside from visual pieces, 2013 also features stirring literary works from local talents.”

Wow. Stirring. That’s a catchy adjective. So visit your nearest bookstore and grab a copy now. (Um, actually, you don’t grab. You ought to buy one).

introvert, extrovert

Call it serendipitous, but the enumeration of differences (or the demands of each) between the two coming into the picture today is very timely. Bottom line: opposites. Pointing out the specifics of both is fun and perplexing (and maybe even draining). 

And it seems it is much more fun and more perplexing (and maybe even more draining) when you work out a thread to connect the two. I guess that is the purpose of the ritual of living: to work things out, no matter the opposites, no matter the differences. If one really wants it to.

[ visit source of images here ]

almost in there: likhaan 6

Apparently, the news came to me a little bit late. I didn’t make it in the final contents of University of the Philippines Institute of Creative Writing’s Likhaan Journal 6, but a poem from the collection I submitted for possible inclusion got a little bit of mentioning in its preface or introduction written by Gemino H. Abad, the literary journal’s editor:

‘”There are quite a number of remarkable poems that I personally would not hesitate to include in an update of A Habit of Shores should I venture again into those woods “lovely, dark and deep”; for instances, each one for wholeness perfectly chiseled—Jov Almero’s “palindrome”; Miro Capili’s “Monet’s Last Yellow”; F. Jordan Carnice’s “Relativities”; Albert B. Casuga’s “Graffiti: Five Lenten Poems”; Nolin Adrian de Pedro’s “caxton”; Vincent Dioquino’s “candescence”; Jan Brandon Dollente’s “When I say the sky opens its mouth”; Eva Gubat’s “A Telling of Loss”; Pauline Lacanilao’s “A Crowded Bus Stops Abruptly”; Christine V. Lao’s “Swatches”; R Torres Pandan’s “Remembering Our Future”; Trish Shishikura’s “The Manner of Living”; Jaime Oscar M. Salazar’s “Clinch”; Arlene Yandug’s “Aporia.”’ 

Familiar (and respected) names are all over the place. If one of the master poets mentions my work in a note such as this, then I think it is worth saying the simple citation is rewarding. Thank you.


[ click here to view the journal in PDF ]