She was hunched over on a chair in the dim hallway. Her small frame cast an even smaller shadow on the dusty floor. Her eyes were swollen, her face rigid. It was almost funny how her heart felt numb yet ready to explode at the same time. Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve always had an odd habit of waking up at the unholiest of unholy hours. Sometimes it’s because of that weird funk I can’t shake. If I’m lucky, it’s because I have a story brewing.

This particular evening, I have a story in the works. So here I am, in front of the trusty PC, still arm from a long stint of programming. I play my usual ninety-something games of solitaire, just to get warmed up. My little ritual. Read the rest of this entry »

I peel away layer from layer
revealing firm
veined flesh beneath
white and smooth

a thousand darts sting my eyes
pure pain assails my nose
as I tear away strips
of skin with my knife

my eyes blur
a flood of sweet
relief trickling
down my face

How curious that the tears
no tragedy could wring from me
are now summoned by
an onion.

as did Abraham, long ago,
when he laid his Isaac
upon the altar of his God.
So do I place my offspring
on the butcher’s block
for yet another round
of literary infanticide.
Cheerfully
do I kill my children.

An explanation for my silence: I was sick.

Sometime last week, I got a tickle in my throat, which progressed into a cough. Eventually, the little band of germs that had landed in my throat decided to stay there on a semi-permanent basis, and proceeded to have billions and billions of offspring. The cough turned into a strange, wheezing sound that reminded me of an old car refusing to start. My nose was so clogged up that I could feel a vacuum forming in my head every time I attempted to inhale. And then there was a fever that wouldn’t make up its mind whether it was coming or going. And then there were those horrible headaches that felt more like irate migraines walking around in cleats. Five whole days of misery interspersed with weird dreams.

Must get my momentum back.

http://www.dalityapi.com/makata/

Makata Issue No.9, September 2006 is now available online featuring the works of our home-grown and international poets.

Poetry
by Jaime Agpalo, Aurora Antonovic, Luis Cuauhtemoc Berriozabal, Mary Ann N. Cariquez, Lynette B. Carpio, Ravelth B. Castro, Cyril Dabydeen, Zig Madamba Dulay, Manuel Lino G. Faelnar, C W Hawes, Honey Pie Maniego, Noahlyn Maranan, Pia Marquez-Matic, Anthony Pabon, Alexander Martin Remollino, Rey Tamayo Jr. and Ella Wagemakers.