INK AND VAIN ASPIRATION
Come forth to my embrace you elusive wisdom
Let the ink of my pen mark another thing
Depart not from my miserable bones and flesh
You fame of the velvet curtain that waits amidst.
My chary hand scribbles the first words
Of an embarking ship to a voyage of no return.
The waves are gold and fine dusts are the bubbles
Of this navigator’s fate to the fervid abyss.
I wander my eyes to these aghast lines
And feel the beating of my blood in horror.
The honest clock must break the monotony
Of this night of my solitude and grief.
Let no one forbid my soaring with the eagles
And allow me to dream before I move on to my grave.
For my soul is beaten finer than dust
Borne to the wind to perish.
My ink has given me extreme thirst to pant like the deer;
To stab the green bushes and stand before the heights.
So let me then recognize my mighty prints into laurels
Or burn, instead, with me my will power to ashes.
I display and pour forth unfathomed speeches
To champion the footprints of my long-forgotten mentors
Who saw the world like a fragile sphere of heavens twisted.
Revising its fictions and authenticating the Apocalypse.
But if you just perceive the chariots and the horsemen
Yet not my arms which bent a bow of bronze.
Let then, instead, this victory be spared to the fools
Than for me to seek vengeance from a shallow heart.
_*_
NAKAW
Buksan mo ang isip kong tulog,
Nakahilata sa kasinungalingan
At hayaang kumawala hanggang
Sa dako pa roon.
Pilitin mong mamulat ako
Sa katotohanang
ang lahat ng ito
ay pawang hiram lamang.
At ang pagniniig nating ito
Sa loob ng magara mong
Revo
Ay karaniwang libog lamang
At talulot lang ng pangungulila
Sa iniirog
At hindi na mauulit pang muli.
_*_
Huling Gabi Ng Pagniniig Sa Lilimampu’t-pitong Araw Na Pag-irog
Buhatin mo ako ng may pagmamahal
At mahigpit an ikanlong
Sa iyong mga bisig.
Bayaan mong damhin ko ang init
Ng iyong balat
At ang mga masilakbo mong titig
Na tumatagos sa aking kaibuturan.
Himayin mo ng iyong masiil na mga halik
Ang bawat hibla ng aking pagkatao.
Magniig tayo
Hanggang maabot natin ang rurok
Sa marahan
At mapangahas na bawat pag-ulos.
Magpaulayaw tayo
Sa piling ng mga hamog
At sa balintataw ng buwang naninilip
At nagkukumubli sa ulap
Na para bagang nahihiya sa kanyang
Nasaksihan.
Hugutin mo ng walang kimi
Ang aking nalalabing limos na dangal
At pikit-mata kong susundan
ang anino ng iyong
pag-alis
patungo sa kanyang piling.
Pilitin mong huwag nang lumingon
Upang hindi mo masaksihan
Ang pagpatak ng mga luhang
Lalamunin lang ng gusot na panyong
Tangi kong alaala sa iyo.
_*_
HAIKU ATTEMPTS
The cold rain kissed the dry earth
Softening its cheeks
Like a homage to its own
_*_
The vain waves touched the sad shore
Painted it bright white
Drifting back to nothingness.
_*_
