the width

four coworkers went with me to the "unveiling" of the poem placards last friday for the omnibus contest i won. there was no unveiling so much as performance poetry with one of the city buses held at the steps of the capitol. despite the woman reciting in a microphone, obviously fake passengers holding scripts in their hands, & orange cones around the bus, a couple people got in and sat down inside mistaking it for a real stop. one guy waited until halfway through the recital before giving up and leaving. ahh, juneau. so i guess i did miss out by being absent at the awards ceremony because i didn't see my poem placard or the book with our bios in it. i also have no idea which bus my poem's on. so here it is on the internet for you virtual travelers:

the width of two continents

manila mountains make the shape of a woman's back;
i am wandering in the small of it
arms outstretched in birthright search.

lightning bolt to severed bough
flame to paper
adam's hand extended on a cracked ceiling.

to the west is an island where my grandmother swam and dove for pearls
black hair twisting and gliding behind her.
in this placed filled with water, i have inherited the distance and reaching.
it is for my lola (grandmother), appolonia dela roca santa romana, who raised me in manila, gave me possibilities, and trusted me to go where i had to go. she died last year, march 29, and for awhile after that, i had to negotiate a world suddenly empty because she was no longer in it. but luckily, she taught me well so i didn't have to flounder long. thank you lola; mahal kita.