Light and smoke
blossoms from the barrel of a gun
as they lay waste
to the only home I have ever known
and stake their claim on this land
where my ancestors toiled under a smoldering sun,
wrinkles on face,
sweat on back,
callouses on hand.

Stolen plunder
rots in gold and marble jars
while I watch my children collapse
from hunger
and my husband hang himself
on that old tree,
watered by the blood
of generations
gasping for air
under the banner of the unfree.

Tonight, I cry out
to Mother, Father, Aunt, Uncle,
since the voices of my children have dried up
and my husband’s body has returned to the earth,
but I stand, an emaciated shell,
nonetheless standing
with one more scream,
one last sob,
another step,
I shall carry this banner until we all become free.

The dewy grass makes me miss your lips,
as does the rain clouds.
When I see the baby foxes, your eyes appear,
rusty brown like the tractor outside.

Metal roof, where we lay under,
quietly listening to the drops.
You grasp at my warm waist,
pulling tighter like the loose faucet handle.

I crave your delicate peck against my lips,
like the green truck yearns to start.
My hands run through your hair as we lay
in the soft silence.

Dogs running and coffee cooling,
waiting for the sun to crest the hills.
I want this now, I want this later,
I want this forever.

Beneath the dark clouds, the
wheat blows gently on the farm.
I lie in bed and think about all
the loud farm machines that
will whirl into action at daybreak.
But tonight, as always,
silence is my best friend.

May the willows grow through your dog cages.
May the mice die and rot where they lay.
Half-moons of black dirt once filled up my fingers.
Prayed more than once for owls to carry you away.
No longer my ritual to clear sludge from the spillway
as your orchards grow barren
weeds cover your everything,
And mushrooms lay seeds
in your brain.

The dry day came
The baler the same
Walking behind they magically pop out
We march to the call and gurn to the shout

The lift is swift
And the landing is firm
On the steel trailer bed
Nothing more to be said

Off to the yard
To the pile at the top
We hide our protest
Man, this is hot

I can't see for the dust
The smell of the hay
Makes us lift faster
I'll remember this day

A neat puzzle is made
My energy will fade
Every bale must fit
Every lift, one of grit

The sweat and the heat
This job is not complete
Once more to the field
To gather the yield

Kan akì pa ako igwa akong ayam
Mahilig siya magkawat sa mga masetásan
Pipoy an saiyang pangáran
Daí mo nungka lingawán
Ta daí ito nagsisimbag
Pag bakô niyang pangáran
Saròng aldáw dinara ko siya sa umá
Mahihiling mo sa saiyang matá
An káugmaháng dinara
Dalágan igdi, dalágan dumán
Sigeng dulág pag nagrarani sa damúlag
Nagpundo lang kan
Nakahiling nin kulagbáw
Sa irárom kan hablondawani

Sana árog lang kaini kadali
an áro-aldáw kan buhay

Nakatukaw ako kaibahan si pipoy
Habang kinakakan kan umá
An palubog na saldang
Asin saro-sarong dinadaklag
kan bulan an bitoon sa langit
Saròng aldáw nanaman an nakalipas
Saròng rebolusyon pa kan kinaban
Makakaabot man kita
sa satuyang padudumanan
Pasarosaro sanang lakdang
Arog ngani kan pirming sabi ni pipoy
"Aw!! aww!!"

—𝐔𝐦𝐚, a Bikol poetry.
About how I and my dog travel the world one step at a time.

I sit at Robert Frost Farm
On a bench so tall my feet can’t touch ground
I move them around and pretend I’m sitting on a cliff
But I’m surrounded by twigs
And dead yellow grass

It feels like spring but it looks like autumn
The trees are still bare and the landscape barren
Stripped down and beaten
Like a hollow survivor
Waiting for sunlight and just a little water

I sit here blindly like a silent on looker
I stare right through the tattered survivors
An old lady in the distance yells something friendly
But I can’t hear her so I stare and smile