Nidag.um napod ang kalangitan,
Nanagan na ang mga katawhan,
mga katigulangan ug kabatan-onan,
Nagpangita na sila ug kapasilungan,

Mubundak napud ang kusog na uwan,
Mabasa' nasad ang mga kadalanan,
Nanirado na ang mga baligyaanan,
Kanselado na pud ang mga kalihokan,

Samtang ako ania ra amoang pinuy.anan,
Kanunay nga gahandum sa atong nasugatan,
Nagpangutana, nganung wala naka sa akong kiliran,
Unsa man gyud ang hinundnan ug naingnan,

Nganung sa gugma mo ako imong gihikawan,
Unsa man gyud ang imong basihan?
Dili ba diay ko angay na hatagan?
Hangtud nalang gyud ba ko sa handurawan?

Tinuod nga sa gugma sa ginikanan wala ko gihikawan,
Unsaon taman kining kasing kasing ikaw ang kinahanglan,
Bisan pag dli ni para sa imong kaayuhan,
Nasayud ko nga wala koy kadungganan,
kay matud pa sa uban dle kuno ko kasaligan,
Para mahimo kong usa sa imong mapilian,

Wala na gyud ba kini kalambuan?
Nangandoy lang gihanpon ko na kita mag.uban,
Nga unta puhon makig ila ila sa imong ginikanan,
Bisan nasayod kong wala na gyuy katumanan,
Kay ako usa man lang ka tawng walay hinungdan,

Usa ka taw nga matud pa,"sa kinabuhi walay padulngan",
Pero bisan in-ani ang permi nakong madunggan,
Kanunaay gihapon kong mangandoy ug kalampusan,
Bahala na ug puhon dli ko ma kwartahan,
Basta ang importante ikaw akong maangkon ug mahagkan,

Kung ako Mahimong usa ka taw nga gamhanan,
Magbuhat ako ug mga butang nga kahibulungan,
Usbon nako ang dagan niining kalibutan,
Tapigan ko ang mga buwan ug mga kabituonan,

Akong Hupingon ang mga panghitabo na dle ko masakitan ,
Akong kining hupingon hangtud tika makitan-an,
Kung ako mawagtang man gani pananglitan,
Dili ko maguol kay ikaw ra gihapon akong mapalgan,

Unya sa kung kitang duha mag kita' na man,
Pahunungon ko ang oras sa kailbutan,
Nga ang usa'g-usa ra atong mamatikdan,
Ibalik ko ang kahayag sa buwan ug mga kabituonan,

Magsayaw sayaw kita sa kawanangan,
Ubanan sa kahayag sa mga bituon ug buwan,
Dli na gyud mahitabong muuwan,
kay mga panganod akoang tapigan,

Buhaton ko kining tanan,
Para lang ikaw akoang makauban,
Akoang mahalon ug panggaon hangtud sa lubnganan,
Para kanako mao na kini tinud-anay kalampusan,

Remember when we were younger?

In biology class when everything was tactile and new

Experimental and combustible

And we checked each others' pulses

To count and measure

To give reason to rhythm

And you found mine with ease

Cool fingers near the carotid

Unwanted sparks from lack of use

And when I went to you

Placing unclean hands between chin and collar

Trying to finds signs of life

And finding none

As you pressed my fingers further in

Insistent and sure of your steady heart

And it's ironic how years later

When your face is a fading memory

And your presence a ghost no longer haunting

That I realize I never knew

If you were really alive

.
     I stare down at the plate of toast and beans
     wondering why this was never part of my dreams.
     Looking for the future with an illusional pretence,
     hoping good apples will fall on my side of the fence.

And as the fork dances slow
around the legumes in spirals,
the tedium of a wasting life
bears the burden and scars
of missed opportunities in paralysis
and the colour of once bright lights
          glow black,
shining a shadow into the void
covering the bruises
that were once achievements of worth,
     now tender patches
          of failure.
I drop the fork ...

     … pushing away the plate and leaving food uneaten,
     my desire for its nutrition fought and beaten,
     Looking at the apple tree with sombre regret
     maybe its fruit will fall and save me yet.

And disappointment
is worse than anger,
it begins with the stench of loss
the nasal whiff of
what if …

And what if the little apple tree
drops all its fruit down to me?
Would I recognise fortune on my side
or fear the illusions and run to hide?


© Pagan Paul (17/02/18)

Is this what writers do?
Lure their readers to a false sense of security?

You know that I'm in love with you.
So you, with insincerity, play my heart strings like poetry.

I look at her and poison slips from my tongue-
Competition.
I smack my bubblegum in hopes that you can hear it across the room.
What does she have that I don’t?
A shield you pull out in unworthy discussions about...H E R.
You protect her as if she’s a wounded kitten found in a swampy sewer.
Disgust fills my empty veins as you inhale your menthol cloud.
All I can do is **** people with words, tongue ties, and depths of unknown worlds.
When all I wish you would tell her is:

I. Am. Done. Talking. To. You. About. Her.