Under the Storm : An Anthology Of Contemporary Philippine Poetry

A monumental event in Philippine literature that gathers the best contemporary poetry. My poem called "Vers." appears in this anthology so if you ever get the chance, get a copy when it's out.



.MOV International Film, Music & Literature Festival presents

Launch: 2 September 2011
Ayala Museum, Makati City
6 PM



UNDER THE STORM: An Anthology Of Contemporary Philippine Poetry

Edited by Khavn De La Cruz & Joel M. Toledo.

with 150 poems from Filipinos all over the globe.

visit http://movfest.org/ for more details.

A poem in the International Literary Quarterly

My poem called "Untilted" appears in the 15th edition of the International Literary Quarterly. Enjoy!

A Poem in Philippines Free Press

My poem called "Kapre" appears in the latest issue of Philippines Free Press. Although I've been writing for a long time, this is the first time I get any of my work to appear in PFP.

To read about the Kapre, click here and here.

Click here to start reading.

Three Stories in Kritika Kultura

The literary issue of Ateneo de Manila University's Kritika Kultura is out. My short short stories "Unpolished Things," Rotonda," and "Wakasan" appear in this issue.

About the Issue:

The Philippine literary community has a relatively longstanding tradition of releasing anthologies focusing on young writers. However, it can be gleaned that the notion of the “new” remains unarticulated, as recent anthologies simply focus on the “young,” and what becomes apparent is the persistent maintenance of an aesthetics solidified in various creative writing institutions and workshops, a notion that is rapidly rendered inaccurate by a healthy production of writing that these anthologies do not include.

What this issue of Kritika Kultura intends to accomplish is to represent the kind of writing that is rarely published, the kind that is not often legitimized by mainstream publications. The kind of writing that we, as editors, can confidently call “new.”

New, in this case, as the word that most succinctly describes literary texts that are mindful of—by way of formal response/appropriation and/or thematic confrontation—several cultural phenomena such as the preponderance of piracy, the simultaneous/schizophrenic sociopolitical conditions of the nation, the “new” government that includes so many of the old names, the highly provisional stances in criticism pertaining to society and art, the currency and increasing value of topicality and ephemera (as evidenced by BPOs, SEOs, and Facebook), the persistent dominance of celebrity culture, and the gossip paradigm of discourse. The anthology welcomes contributions that transgress genre boundaries, revise traditional modes and forms, formally engage with the largely oral, nontextual/extratextual literary practices of the Filipino audience, and display a technical alertness to the quandaries presented by blog-driven writing, Facebook fiction, protest poetry, the malleability of languages, the hegemony of academic publishing in “legitimate” literature, the dominion of western literary models, and, in light of these, the strategic and arguably fictionalizing construction of Filipino identity.

Kudos to co-editors Adam David, Mark Anthony Cayanan and Chingbee Cruz.

To read my stories, click here.

Isterismo

Batid ko nang tumawa siya na masasangkot ako
Sa kanyang galak at magiging bahagi nito, hanggang
Maging mga di-sinasadyang bituin ang kanyang mga ngipin na singhusay
Ng mga pulutong na nagsasanay. Naakit ako ng mga kagyat ng singhap,
Na nalalanghap sa bawat panandaliang pagkabawi, nawawaglit sa wakas
Sa madidilim na yungib ng kanyang lalamunan, nabubugbog ng mga
Saluysoy ng mga di-nakikitang kalamnan. Isang matandang waiter
Na nanginginig ang mga kamay ang nagmadaling maglatag
Ng rosas at puting kurusang mantel sa ibabaw ng kinakalawang
Na luntiang mesang bakal, ang nagpapatalastas: “Kung nais ng binibini
At ng ginoo na doon na lang sa hardin magtsaa,
Kung nais ng binibini at ginoo na doon na lang
Sa hardin magtsaa…” Nagpasya akong kung
Mapipigilan ang pagyugyog ng mga suso niya, ilang
Bahagi pa ng hapon ang maaaring malikom,
At ibinuhos ko ang atensyon ko nang napakaingat ang
Pagkakadesimulado sa layuning ito.

(salin ng Hysteria ni T. S. Eliot)

Magkakaibang Aso

Nakaupo ako kasama ang munting Doberman na buto't balat
sa ibabaw ng mabahong umbok sa likod ng Oklahoma
City Animal Shelter. Siniguro kong ilakad
ang mga kaawa-awa aso. Paos na kumahol
ang iba nang gumewang siyang palabas sa hawla
at sumuot sa silo ng tali ko, na nakalaylay
habang dinaraanan namin ang mga halimaw sa ibang kulungan -
yong iba, sabi ng katiwala, talagang ipinanganak nang masama.
Nanginginig ang asong ito sa lamig ng taglagas habang pinapanood namin
ang pagdaan ng hamog sa ibabaw ng downtown.
Sa likod ng hamog na ito naroon si Krystal, yong bebot
na nakilala ko nitong Sabado ng gabi, na parang kilala
lahat ng tao sa bar pero paligid-ligid naman
sa akin, kahit pa pinayagan niya ang isang siraulong kupal
na himurin ang mata niya. Nang magsasara na, ibinigay niya
sa akin ang number niya, at naisip ko, ang suma nito,
ang pagkabata niya at malulusog na suso at tipong uubra na,
bawasan lang ang peklat ng tigidig, na wala namang kaso
sa akin, pero siguro iniinda niya, ay katumbas
ng una kong bebot mula sa Oklahoma. Kaya lang nang tumawag ako
puro tungkol sa sarili lang niya ang napag-usapan namin, mga dating trabaho,
mga natapos sa kolehiyo, ang kalaliman ng espirituwalidad niya, kapangyarihang
literal na kaya niyang palabasin ang araw kung kelan man niya
mapusuan. Akalo ko nagkamali lang siya
sa paggamit sa salitang "literal," na kalimitang nangyayari,
pero hindi. ‘Yon talaga ang ibig niyang sabihin, at kung bata-bata pa ‘ko
siguro nakipagtalo pa ‘ko, pero hinayaan ko na lang
at nalungkot ako nang todo pagkatapos naming magparaos sa kama.
Kung sabagay, mas mabuting makapiling ang kaawa-awang bebot na 'to
kaysa panooring dumaan ang mga ulap. Nakasandal siya
ngayon sa 'kin, at di ko maiwasang tapikin siya
sa marungis niyang balikat, at idantay ang baba ko sa ulo niya.
Kapag nakatingin ang mga aso sa isang direksyon,
habang sinisinghot nila ang ere, para bang alam nila
ang kahihinatnan. Di nila sinasabi, kung
isa kang volunteer, kung alin sa mga aso ang nasira,
alin ang naampon. Papasok ka lang araw-araw
at masusumpungang iba na ang mga aso sa kulungan.




(salin ng Different Dogs ni Douglas Goetsch sa New Yorker 17 Jan)

Eksistensya

“dahil mula pa noong sandaling ako’y umiral, buhat-buhat ko na ang bigat ng mundo at ni walang bagay o sinumang makakatulong sa akin upang mapagaan ito.” - Jean Paul Sartre

Magkatalikod tayo sa
Komportableng kama at
Tila may humihinga sa
Puwang sa gitna

Ngayong pagod ka na
At umiyak na ako
Bumibilis na ang pagtalukbong
Ng malamig nang dilim

Babalik ka sa pagbabasa
Nang di ko malamang
Tumalab din sa ‘yo
Ang sinabi ko

Hindi ako basurahan
Ni bahaw na palangawan

Ako ang iyong anino
Tapunan ng buong bigat mo

Susunod-sunod at hindi
Makangiti

Ang gabi;y lasting binabanat;
Humahaba nang humahaba

At malapit nang mapigtal
Darating na ang almusal.





mula sa Heights Tomo XL, Bilang 1. p. 59

THE HUNDREDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! vs. Sais

Reposted from Adam David:

All our hundred years of art and lit are merely degrees of elaborations on declarations of Love. What more is there to say? This is a call for Love. This is a call for a hundred more, of a hundred strokes and a hundred words, from a hundred people for a hundred more.

This is a call – send works of a hundred words or whole-page strips or one-panel gags on that perpetually pervasive pandemic, either as RTFs or JPGs both in Filipino or in English to 100loves100@gmail.com, subject heading “I LOVE YOU” on or before May 10 2011 – for Love.

Incidentally, Adam is rebooting SAIS. It's just six words. What could possibly go wrong, right? Send your stories here: saisaisais.editor@gmail.com. Now!

Three Poems in Monday Magazine

If you're in Manila, grab a copy of the March-April issue of Monday Magazine where my poems "The Box," "All Your Saturdays Over," and "To See California" appear.

Three Poems in Asia Writes

Read three poems from my new work collectively called -30- (thirty-word poems) In Praise of Electronica, Kindergarten and Troubled Sleep Pours In in Asia Writes here.