Mater Intemerata
The bird is calling in the midnight air,
The maiden cannot sleep, she listens long,
And starts— What noise of nail and hammer there,
When all are sleeping, interrupts the song?
Then one brute force sucks hard her swooning breath,
A great flame grows deep in her womb and blood—
Is this the kiss, the fertile seed, or death?
Is this the time, my lover and my God?
Yet no one hears, the house is like a tomb,
For no one knows this godlike, swift, and wild
Descent—like metal clashing in her womb;
She lies down, weary, still, and feels defiled.
And in that noise, how can the maiden sleep?
Exhausted, raped, what can she do but weep?
Poetry, like a toothache, was a pain in school. Like Fr. Steinbugler, S.J. handing out Ds in third year high to us who failed to compose a poem modeled, measure for measure, on Shelley’s “Ode to the West Wind.”
The welcome warmth that wraps the wanderer who seeks a sanctum in its sainted shoals now foists a fervid front of gray-haired “friends” preparing for the pastor’s primal pace to simulate the Savior’s sacrifice.
Poet and social critic John Berger believes that desiring justice is as multitudinous as the stars in an expanding universe with the suffering caused by genocide, war and natural catastrophes which happen unnoticed every day.
Last Friday was my dad’s death anniversary, and I marvel at the circumstances surrounding that day. Let me tell you about it through a couple of poems.
In the current exhibition at Galeria Duemila, avant-garde artist Cesare Syjuco presents an all-text exhibition in a show titled “A Life of the Mind: His Poems for Walls.” Showcasing works made entirely of words created in the past 30 years, Syjuco’s oeuvre utilizes the plastic arts to present literature where text has taken on a primarily visual function.
Kritika, the national criticism workshop, is back.
“Rizalpabeto,” a collaboration between visual artist Elmer Borlongan and poet Vim Nadera, is on view at Manila Contemporary. The exhibition...
"The Neruda Case" (Riverhead Books), by Roberto Ampuero. The great Chilean poet Pablo Neruda wrote about Latin American history and landscapes, the simple beauty and depth of ordinary objects, but perhaps most memorably, about love.
In 2008, one of the five awardees of Gawad Pambansang Alagad ni Balagtas was a small, unassuming man who received the Manuel Baldemor trophy with quiet delight. He wrote under the name “Yun H” or “Cloud Crane.”
