"gulaman" poems
Into a place far away but too familiar,
I push open the rusty purple gates,
Inhale a lungful of the province air,
Kick away blue pebbles on the dusty ground,
And then
Mano my lolo, my tito
Beso my lola, my tita
And give my cousins a nudge on the arm,
A pinch on the cheeks.
I squeeze between four people
In a rickety wooden bench and
Pass around plate after heavy plate.
I fill my banana leaf
With spaghetti too soft too sweet,
Almost like pudding,
With crispy chicken dripping with oil.
I wash it off with a cool glass of gulaman,
Chewy beads and gems in sugary water.
Fathers talk about basketball, boxing, billiards;
Mothers browse through photo albums and magazines;
While we children argue about Superman or Batman.
Our laughter fills the humid air
And goes up, up, up to the ears of the neighbors.
In celebration of the time we have together
And a nice sunny day
We devour our meals
And go ahead and
Climb trees and
Get our faces sticky with sweet fruits,
Lick chocolate ice popsicles,
Chase each other in the weedy playground,
Bike around town,
Pick colorful flowers,
Wrestle with each other,
Play badminton on a windy day,
Scare around chickens and guinea pigs,
And play patintero under the dull orange street lamps.
We nervously creep inside the back door,
All sweaty, bearing bruises and scratches
But still with wide smiles on our faces.
All is futile though.
An angry grandmother awaits,
Scolding us for
Coming home past sunset.
More and more stars glitter the sky
As the night gets deeper and deeper.
The gentle evening breeze whistles a note
As it enters through the window.
The karaoke blasts grating voices
Interrupted by hearty laughter.
Playing cards and corn chips litter the table.
We children exchange jokes and ghost stories.
And then,
We bid our goodbyes,
Sharing hugs and kisses
Stained with discontent and sadness.
Our hearts about to burst
In excitement for the next
Reunion.
Nov 8, 2013
Nov 8, 2013 at 3:56 AM UTC
Eto na naman ako
Nababalisa, hindi malaman kung hihiga o uupo
Buong araw na akong ganito
Hindi malaman kung nasiraan na ba ng ulo
Ibang klase talaga kapag tinamaan
Sino ba talaga ang may kagagawan?
Para akong sago
Habang ikaw naman ay gulaman
Dalawang bagay na magkaiba
Ngunit swak kapag pinagsama
Pero saglit, teka, taympers ako'y naguguluhan
Ano ba talagang meron saiyo babaeng nilalang?
Puso ko'y nabihag mo ng walang pakundangan
Alaala kapag kasamay ka ay hindi ko malimutan
Ang iyong ngiti ay walang kaparis
Mga tingin na sobrang tamis
Makasama ka lang ay parang nasa alapaap na
Tunay ngang hindi makakalimutang tumawa
Kung mabasa mo man ang tulang ito
Eto ang sasabihin ko saiyo:
Gagawin ang lahat para lungkot mo ay mapawi
Dahil ang tanging gusto ko lamang
Makita ang ngiti saiyong mga labi
Sep 6, 2015
Sep 6, 2015 at 2:09 AM UTC