i don't watch home movies
hate them
reason being because
when i was young
i was looking for a movie
my mother
had recorded for me
and accidentally
put one in the vcr
that i'm not sure
i was supposed to see
i know the obvious response
"uh oh, ****"
sorry to disappoint
they were only marked with dates
  1991
on live television
montel williams asks my father
"how can you just throw
your child away like a piece of trash?"
   1994
i spend so much time
in the emergency room
that my parents stop
penciling in growth marks
on the frame
of my bedroom door
i always thought
it was because they believed
i would never grow out
of this sickness
sometimes i believe
the reason that they
never bought me a dream catcher
was because they never thought
i'd live long enough
to see them come true
   1996
i am eliminated
from a spelling bee
because i didn't know
the 'dad' is silent in 'family'
   2013
before i got into poetry
i used to do standup
none of my jokes were funny
one of the other comics
tells me my skits are dry
sometimes sad
he says "why don't you joke
about something like your family?"
so i say
"i never wore any sunblock
because i didn't want anything
to keep me from my father"
i say "what do you call christmas
without lights or heat?"
before he has a chance
to answer
i say "1997. better yet
why don't you
make like a dad and
leave"
   2014
every time we drive
past the hospital
my mother reminds me
how much it cost to save my life
like she'd rather
have her money back
she doesn't have to say
that sometimes she wishes
it was me who had died
instead of my brother
i can hear it in the way
she says "love you"
sometimes i imagine
that if i were to die
that she
would pick out a casket for a child
because she never loved
the person i became
yesterday i told my father
how close i'd been
to suicide lately
and he said
"that's my boy,
livin on the edge.."
and i can't remember
if i laughed
or cried

starts off as a whisper in your ear
something you hunger to taste
something you long to feel
and something you yearn to see
Then becomes a tormented dream
something you ache to have
something you crave to savor  
and something that...
just can never **be

One pulls me down in a sea of tenderness
safe gentle lapping waves of love and comfort
so soothing like a warm summer pond in the south
He is my anchor

The other loves me like a wild forbidden passionate rush
an all consuming type of love, making the world disappear
clinging to a life raft in a turbulent sea
He is my storm

Enticing waters with the luminous waves that can tempt the dead from their bed. My soul longs for both. I cannot drift off to peaceful sleep until the waves of desire find their sweet release. A wondrous storm of love in a turbulent sea or a steadfast anchor that has taken hold on a part of me

Isang taon na mula
Noong una kitang makita...

Noong pinili ka ng aking
Paningin kahit na sa
Totoo lang, marami kayong
Naka-itim na pantaas.

Noong naisip kong
Handa na, pwede na ulit
Akong mabaliw sa saya
Diba, parang tanga lang?

Noong naisip kong
May gaganda pa pala sa
Paborito kong pelikula.
Hay, ang mga matang iyan.

Pero, mayroon akong mga nalimutan.

Sana nakita ko rin
Sa araw na iyon lahat
Ng di ko pa makita o
Mga iniwasang makita.

Sana nakita kong
Di na naman ako mag-iingat
Tapos saka mahuhulog
Nang tuluyan.

Sana naisip kong
May mga damdaming
Marinig man, ay hindi
Nabibigyang kasagutan.

Sana tinanggap ko agad
Na maaaring ang mga
Kaibigang tulad ko,
Kaibigan lang talaga.

Wala namang kahit
Isang dahilan noong
Magustuhan kita. Kaso naman,
Andami palang rason
Para mas mahalin ka.

Kaya ayun, isang taon na.
Isang taon na palang
Pangarap kita.