1.
I remember, and the breathing
Of the drowned draws the ripples.
The waves drowse no more,
Wobbling the boat while the wind
Blows away the weathered hats
Of fishers. I stand wordless at
The breakwater's edge and hear
The burst of spume. Storms recur
In my head. Now returns all
The shipwrecked. All the dead.
2.
Flitting by swarms of fishes.
In the coral within my skull skulks
The coelacanth and I, diving
Deeper, peer at it, prying it loose.
As it surges off, unhooked,
My depth-deafened ears hear
The scabrous clarity of scales. I blink,
Resurfacing in the eye of the surfs.
Only the remora remains, mossy
In the rustling waters of memory.
- Philippines Free Press
- Philippine Graphic
4/8/96
- Likhaan: The Best of '96
Myke U. obenieta
Back to Episodes | Main Page
