muling nagkasalubong—
nagtagpo sa 'di inaasahang panahon
ang alala ng kahapon at ang ngayon
binati nila ang isa't isa
may konting kamustahan
ngunit 'di na muling babalikan
ngayong naghari na liwanag sa dilim
lahat ng sikreto't mga lihim;
damdaming pilit na kinimkim
ay akin ng itatapon
hindi na muli magtatago sa kulimlim
ng kahapon sapagkat ako'y nakaahon
na sa masalimuot na pangyayari noon

We have a blue sky in Ireland
today, according to the news
Boris Johnson is pro the 26, he
has just turned green, officially.

I laid my mattress in
the living-room. And camped out
every day with the shades pulled
down to block out the light

from outside. I ate and ate until
my weight was one-hundred and
seventy-five. I had just miscarried my
baby girl. Her name would have been

Sarah if she came into this world. But
she never made it to her May birthday –
She was taken in a very sober October
when the colors of the leaves shined against

my pale face and barren waist. We died
the same way, taken before we could
consummate, like I did with Jim. And after we had
our fling he died too. Then I turned full-on to

the bottle. My son never made it home
from the hospital. It was too much to bear on anyone –
and this old woman is no longer young. But still
depressed, spending her time in a cold basement

video-taping ******* – *******, ***
and ***** for money. Her poems are just as her
baby girl, son and Jim –
all brain dead. No light has been shed on a one –
if it doesn’t involve a **** or tongue