Sobre

Sa mga Maranao, ito'y sikat
Marangya man o salat
Bitbit anumang okasyon
Kasalan, lamay o graduation
Sabay sa'yong ikakamay
Yaring munting alay

Pagsapit ng Marso,
Aba'y sakit ng ulo
Si pinsan, kapitbahay, maging si bunso
Hinihintay ay regalo
Yaring sobre ay iabot
Ngiti'y langit ang naaabot

Sa kasalan, di madadaglat
Kung tawagin ay adat
Aba'y wag malilingat
Kay tito, tita, diko at ditse
Wag laktawan nire
Nang walang masabing ganire

Sa lamay hatid ay pakikiramay
Buong angkan handang dumamay
Laman ng sobre, di man sapat
Pakikiramay sa inyo'y tapat
Munting tulong sa pamilyang ulila
Dalamhati'y maibsan nawa

Isang libo o limang daan
Singkwenta o bente man
Di pinulot kung saan
Minsan pa nga'y inutang kung saan-saan
Tanggapin sana ng marubdob
Alay na kusang-loob

Gamitin sa anumang okasyon
Huwag lamang sa eleksyon,
Gawing bahagi ng tradisyon
Di ba't tayo'y maharlika
Maratabat ay sandata
Di susuko kanino mang banyaga

Bakit sa suhol, ika'y naging marupok?
Sa mga ninuno, ito'y kahihiyan
Aral ng Islam, huwag talikdan
Kahirapa'y munti lamang pagsubok
Ganid, iwaksi sa isipan
Prinsipyo, dignidad, kasarinlan
Kahit ilang sobre, di kayang tumbasan

Juxtaposition

Ambivalence
Apparently vague
Contradicting, contrasting, confusing
Embedded rhetorical ambiguity
Alluring, enigmatic puzzle
Irony


-Nov.10, 2019

Coffee

Addiction
Luscious black
Captivating, intoxicating, alluring
A swirled aroma
Stimulating, invigorating, unforgetting
My bitter-sweet
Coffee


-Nov.10, 2019

Writer's Block

The pen rushes; unstoppable yet
Thoughts deeply buried that fret
Fullness swallowed by emptiness met

Subtle meanings; ambiguous
Thoughts; so strenuous
Emotions; sensuous

Imaginations vivid and blurry
Overflowing ideas in brevity
Amidst freedom; perplexity

Stirs the mind that fetter
Pages remain in flicker
A torture for every writer


-May 7, 2019

You-Who-Can't-Be-Named

You cast me with a spell
So strong I can't repel

What is it in your personality
That threw me into perplexity

You're like to me an exception
From all the rules mentioned

Is it your voice that makes me tremble
That always got me into trouble

Just your presence make me clumsy
Turning me topsy-turvy

This may all seem like poetic
'Cause your ignorance make sick

Black Hole

A void of darkness
Amidst the universe
Nothing emerges
No light can escape

A limbo vast yet weightless
Puzzling yet clueless
While scientist fascinate
Mad men hallucinate

Thy object of admiration
A force of gravitation
Forever a mystery
Worth earthing its history

MARAWI'S BATTLE

M - y Marawi, once a home of peace
A - army of Maute, igniting the siege
R - uins, bullets, bombs and screams
A - s civilians flee and innocents die
W - omen and children hear them cry
I - deology waged by hypocrites
S - hamefully disgracing the "Deen"

B - attalions of soldiers of valor and might
A - midst the war, we see them fight
T - ime testified this history
T - errorism shows no mercy
L - ife sacrificed at both sides
E - nmity, I truly despise


-December 2017