Anong silbi ng luha?
Kung papatak lang ito gaya ng ulan,
At gaya ng baha'y pagtatampisawan.

May iilang paslit sa Kalye ni Juan,
Nagbabangka-bangkaan
Paglaki nila'y dal'wa ang sinasagwanan.

Doon sa iskinitang panay basura ang laman,
Bisita nila'y araw-araw na kagutuman.
Iwinawagayway ang sarili,
Bentahan pala'y kanilang pagkakakilanlan.

Minsa'y nasaglit ako sa tindahan
Nang may matiyagang nakipag-usigan
Banta niya'y bubuwagin ang buhay
Ang latay ng bukas ay aangkinin nang ngayon
Titila rin daw ang buhos ng ulan,
Pang-lamang tiyan lang daw,
Bagkus dahas ang kikitil sa kasaganaan.

Ganoon na nga,
May mga nauudlot na kinabukasan
Pati istoryang panay nagtititigan.

Ngayon kasi'y
Pakalat-kalat na lang,
Iba na pati takbo ng isip,
Nakikilimos na lang
Baka may singkong duling man lang.

A wailing ghost has found you.
Foolishy, you hoped to be free.
But that is how it plays with you.
A cat and mouse game, you see.

However did you get as far
In the frosty, wintry night
Without knowing your ache would return?
How could you think you'd be alright?

The haint is on your back,
And chillishly shrilling in your ear.
Maybe you did not bury your deeds deep enough.
Perhaps that is why you fear.

The awesome hatred is poured into your cup.
A spectral accusation never is one in vain
If it closely resembles the truth.
The guilty perish, for crimes that are never named.

She's an alphabet artist
she paints in words,

from a palette of adjectives,
nouns and verbs,

the landscape she finds
in the folds of her mind

she exhibits in volumes of verse.

I remember this time of the day
In the front yard where it's almost dusk
Swarms of mosquitoes buzzing in
We need to close the windows hurriedly
Or else they'll prey on us tonight

Then Nanay, with her broom without a stick
Will burn the dry leaves on the ground
Which she gathered together with
Abandoned paper planes and plastic kites
As the sun slowly disappears from our sight

I put my trembling

hand in hers

when I was four

and twenty years

now twenty more

are come and gone

and yet my trembling

carries on

for different reasons

though I don't

remember when

those reasons changed

and all I have

is foolish hope

that one day they may

change again ....