To Manila
You were seventeen then, so young and full of life…
In facing a bigger world Tabaco could not give.
Nothing has changed since you left, only the lawn had
Grown grass…No one plays there anymore, Jared wouldn’t.
He’s grown a loner, always in a room that was yours,
Always doing something, and jet, is fixed on T.V.
 |
| my mama |
How’s your father?... Tell him the kids miss him so
And the house needs work only he can fix
I can do only as much as I can with these hands
Tell him… home needs papa.
The rain fell so hard last night that the bed turned ice
With water dripping from the ceiling and the old fence
Cracks as the wind blew from the east. Typhoon Sisang
Took the old mango tree by the river where you used
to spend the mornings fishing…and the tree house
where you and your father built.
The kitchen roof was torn down, leaving it open
for the leaves of the Acacia to fall on the sink
you know I hate it when the sink is dirty.
And the floor was wet with mud!
The house was a mess! Vicky spent the whole afternoon
Scrubbing the floor… I can hardly bend my back waxing it.
Jared and jet cleared the yard from twigs and leaves that fell
The night Sisang came.
Tonight we had a candle lit dinner, served with
Salted egg and red anchovies… I know it’s your
Favorite but your brother’s didn’t like it, you know them…
Our sole music was the chirping of the two lovebirds
That you brought last christmas as a gift for the family
We had little laughs and singing before we slept
I was sound asleep when I thought I heard something
Moved in the kitchen… it was dark that I can hardly
See what I am stepping on, suddenly as I walked
I stepped onto something hard and my weight broke it.
It was the glass rose that you gave me that morning
As you left for Manila
Remind me of the beauty of our home as time passes and
It would not wither…
Joeseth Jan C. Perez
Joeseth Jan C. Perez
Joeseth is my first born.
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