[poem] Night Life, Andoy Castellano, 12 May 2006

Night Life
Andoy Castellano

Crickets chirp in the cold air outside
and there is silence
save for the radio kept on till morning
The sun has long set
and it is near and coming
walking outdoors there are no shadows
no wind but it is getting cold
Moths dance with the light
The lizards stalk prey
still the silence could not be put off
there is a variety of sounds
and there is a texture to the silence
Not eerie, but almost quaint
The night is a demure and almost prudish
This is such a time when one wonders why
man sleeps
and not make love to such beauty
as the varied silence of the night

-=0=-

I wrote the original some twenty plus years ago. I did some editing
but kept as much of it as possible.

--andoy
12 May 2006

Fwd: [poem] Tanka: Sack Cloth Bags, Andoy Castellano, 12 May 2006

Tanka: Sack Cloth Bags
Andoy Castellano

Derriere-shaped sack cloth
hanging loose from the shoulder
college coed chic
ethnic status symbol
swaying with every step

-=0=-

I edited an old poem and came up with this tanka. hehehe
It was a really old poem.

--andoy
12 May 2006

[poem] tanka, Andoy Castellano, 12 May 2006

Tanka
Andoy Castellano

Echoes of colors
Flowers light up the drab night
tickling the senses
bright hues and verdant smell
like vines creeping out to me

-=0=-
The tag line was from an old poem I wrote. I created the poem around
"echoes of colors".

--
--andoy
12 May 2006

[poem] Bolinao Vignettes 2: Lolo Agoy, Andoy Castellano, 11 May 2006

Bolinao Vignettes 2: Lolo Agoy
Andoy Castellano, 11 May 2006

I never saw Lolo Agoy get mad,
he had this lop-sided grin
which becomes a smile and a laugh
A kindly man, named after the town's patron saint
elementary school janitor he was
also, a carpenter by trade
he taught himself radio electronics
and fixed transistor radios
and quartz clocks

There's not too much to tell
about my paternal grandfather
save for one story

Lolo Agoy once walked from Bolinao
the westernmost tip of Pangasinan
to fetch his son who was with his sister in Pasay
The lad needed fetching
as there was a little problem
called a war going on at that time
Because of a fuel shortage
there were no vehicles about
and he walked
and he came back to Bolinao with his son, he did

He was a school janitor
He also helped at Church, assisted the Priest at Mass
as long as he lived
Seeing Lolo Agoy,
shrunken, wrinkled and burned by the sun
You'd never think he could have walked to Pasay
and back to Bolinao to fetch his son
with a little problem called a war going on

--
--andoy
11 May 2006

Rengga Senryu: Recipes for Suicide,Andoy Castellano and Steph Cruz, 5.10.06

Rengga Senryu: Recipes for Suicide

 

Andoy Castellano and Steph Cruz

 

May 10, 2006

 

 

suicide by coffee—

five, six mugs a day

heart palpitation by 80

 

crossing the street

thinking of hall of mirrors—

shaking stumbling

 

excruciating pain

7-11 slurpee---

blood curling brain freeze

 

bright burning ember

a very slow poison—

cigarette stick

 

daily fare of gin

balut cholesterol and alcohol—

heart, kidney, liver

 

 

man without hope

swallows several wishbones—

death by lechon manok

 

each night, a toast

to guardian angels—

death by San Miguel

 

bloodsucker

hangs himself in guilt—

death by mosquito net

 

washing first heartbreak

out of her hair—

death by shampoo

 

after the bestman

makes a monkey out of you—

death by banana peel

 

-=0=-

 

This was written as an exchange of text messages.  The haiku/senryu format lends itself well to SMS poems because if forces the writer to write in a very short format.  Each complete senryu was written on the spot by either Stephanie or me.  It was a fun exercise.

 

--andoy

10 May 2006

 

[poem] haiku: UPLB Summer, Andoy Castellano, 10 May 2006

Haiku: UPLB Summer
Andoy Castellano, 10 May 2006

under the canopy
owl silent on the ground
feasting past midnight

atop the hill
in the tree house and shouting
I hear no echoes

rain falling before dawn
thirsty thousands celebrate
frogs spawning

captive light in jars
set loose in the dorm room
fireflies dance free

wearing school shirts
"How is the carabao?"
Manila friends ask

--
--andoy
10 May 2006

(poem) Hall of Mirrors, Andoy Castellano, 9 May 2006

Hall of Mirrors
Andoy Castellano, 9 May 2006

Closing my eyes in a hall of mirrors
images leap out, alive, pictures
that grab my consciousness, pulsing and throbbing

I turn round seeing no corners but curves
seamlessly flowing one into another one atop the other,
erecting, building up to an avalanche of memories
silent, then swelling to a cacophony
on layered screens, gossamer projections
of snapshots, trailers and full-length features

Like waves on a pond these keep coming and coming back
Volumes upon volumes beyond cataloguing, sorting or indexing
out of senseless reach of the here and now
the past catches up and I am back to the then and there

Sleep does not stop the torrent, it haunts my dreams
reliving each and all the accumulated moments
I find myself immersed, surrounded in the mimetic deluge
My moans, whimpers, grunts and screams wake me
shaking and twitching, warm, hot, sweaty, wet

With open eyes I touch the mirrors
fingers on the glass tracing my shadow and all my desires

--
--andoy
9 May 2006

[tula] sayaw ng dahon, andoy castellano, 8 May 2006

sayaw ng dahon
andoy castellano, 8 May 2006

Sa gitna ng ingay
sa lansangang mainit
ang mga dahon ay nagsasayaw

mumunting buhawing mula sa lagas na luntian
nagbibigay korte sa ihip ng hangin
nagbibigay kulay sa init ng umaalingasaw

luntiang alaala ng buhay
unti-unting natutuyo
sa horno ng batong kagubatan

--
--andoy
8 May 2006

[poem] Bolinao Vignettes 1: Lolo Perting, Andoy Castellano, 7 May 2006

Bolinao Vignettes 1: Lolo Perting
Andoy Castellano, 7 May 2006

Lolo Perting died ages ago (I don't remember when)
He's my lola's cousin on this side
and his wife Lola Idiong
(who was my lola's cousin on the other side)
greeting everyone who walked by the busy street
It was a small town back then

A Knight of Columbus
he lived a short walk form the church and plaza
in a house of two stories
with two rocking chais on the veranda fronting the street
A hearty laughter Lolo Perting had
and wearing a pith helmet wherever he went
And I remember he had two children
proudly smiling from photographs prominently displayed
Lived long he did

Visiting, I remember I read there old magazines
of pre-Martial Law rallies on Mendiola
where a student from Philippine Science died

Once there was that time Lolo Perting
brought me along fishing one night
We walked from Luciente to Picocobuan,
but not to the wharf and breakwater
instead, we turned at the road to Guiguiwanen
past the cemetary,
and on past deserted lots, with tall grass and trees
and isolated tombstones
and on down a steep slope to a fishing village of huts on stilts

Now, years after, of the house once so clean and tidy
only the posts stand
And of the fishing village on the dusty road
dilapidated empty huts remain on an quiet cove
Lolo Perting had two children
I never saw them save from pictures framed
and fading long before the rocking chairs stopped
their gentle creaking

--
--andoy
7 May 2006

[tula] Inglis Brosia (Pasintabi kay Pol Medina), Andoy Castellano, 7 May 2006

Inglis Brosia
(Pasintabi kay Pol Medina)
Andoy Castellano, 7 May 2006

"...tandaan mo lang na 'byuti is onli iskin deep'...
sa tagalog, ang masarap lang sa lechon e 'yung balat."
-- Brosia, Pugad Baboy ni Pol Medina, Jr.

Pinaghalong kalamay ang mga katagang nauso na ng tuluyan
Kalokohang nadampot sa bawat bukas ng bunganga
"butter knife" ang tawag sa asawang nabubugbog
toyong mukhang imported ay "Kikkorin"
tsokolate naman ay "Toblerin"
"apple pie" orig naman at gawa sa sayote
at turon pinangalangang "Banana Langka Pie"
Sa lalaking hindi makapagpasya:
"wake up your mind"
sa babaeng tumitingin sa paninda payo naman ay:
"chicken out"
Nahawa na pati Atenistang sosyal-jologs: "may tama ka!"
at isa pang usong salin: "maliwanag at kasalukuyang panganib"

Habang binabasa ang librong komiks
hagalpak sa tawa ang kanina lang na tahimik
na nakaupo sa isang sulok
Nagagalak at umiiyak na parang baliw
sa katotohanan ng pinagtatawanan
pangkasalukuyang panahong
saling inglis-pilipino at pilipino-inglis

--
--andoy
7 May 2006

Fwd: (tula) ang pasyente, andoy castellano, 4 May 2006

ang pasyente
andoy castellano, 4 May 2006

Dumating ang ambulansiya
para dalhin ang pasyente sa ospital

mahina na, nakatirik ang mga mata
lubug ang pisngi at batak ang balat

"Ano po ang nangyara sa kanya?" tanong ng doktora
habang masusing tinitingnan ang mata, pulso at paghinga

"Tumigil nang kumain kanina," sagot ng ina,
"at ayaw na bumangon, nagpatawag na kami ng ambulansiya
nang tumirik ang mga mata niya."

"Bakit po siya nagkaganito?"

"Kinulam kasi siya noong bata pa,
sa elementarya. Ng ka-klase niya."

"Anong edad na po niya ngayon?"

"Singkuwenta'y sais."

"Napa-hospital na po ba siya dati?"

"Ay hindi. Ni minsan ay hindi pa siya nao-ospital.
Malakas naman siya kasi."

"Malnourished po siya," wika ng doktora
habang tuloy ang pagtingin sa pasyente.

"Hindi siya malnourished!" sigaw ng ina,
"Malakas pa nga siyang kumain!"

-=0=-

--
--andoy
4 May 2006

(tula) Haiku sa Pilipino, andoy castellano, 4 May 2006

Haiku sa Pilipino
andoy castellano, 4 May 2006]

munting globo
lumulutang sa lawa
perfecto ang sandali

-=0=-

--
--andoy
4 May 2006

[tula] Beer House Classic, Andoy Castellano, 3 May 2006

Beer House Classic
andoy castellano, 2 May 2006

Tutulog na lang at nakahiga
sa kama sa cuartong madilim
habang ang boses
ng lasing sa pondohan
sa kanto sa baba ng gulod
ay nagsisisigaw ng pilit na abuting
"Bed of Roses"

Ikot ako ng ikot
sa init ng katre, ng dingding,
ng hanging galing sa ventilador
Hindi mapakali sa
tililing ng walang pangalan,
walang katawan,
walang karapatang tinig
Hindi ko alam kung magsisisigaw din ako
sa galit sa pag-aalipusta
sa magandang katahimikan ng gabi
O sa kapangahasan ng
baliw sa kalasingang kanta

Sa kapuyatan kong ito
ay hindi ko alam kung
ako'y nagngingitngit sa galit
O mauuutot sa katatawa
sa walang humpay na parusa
sa isang beer house classic

-=0=-

First posted with the Pinoy Poets yahoo groups.

--
--andoy
3 May 2006

[poem] haiku, andoy castellano, 3 May 2006

haiku
andoy castellano, 3 May 2006

dry leaf falling
splattering dust on ground
breaking the silence

wan red feeble rays
sunrise breaking daunted dawn
leaf twitching in fear

under the acacia
belly up on dusty earth
cat in resltless sleep

-=0=-

First posted with the Pinoy Poets yahoo groups.

--
--andoy
3 May 2006

[poem] Empty Page, andoy castellano, 1 May 2006

Empty Page
andoy castellano, 1 May 2006

Flipping through the pages
from one half-written page
to the other half-empty leaf
Pen to paper while thoughts flit
from page to poem
to stanza, line and back to thought
Treating empty paper
like blank windows, text pads on the computer

Jumping from concept to thought
while sitting in bed
swimming with half-dozen
poems and more rushing out
of mind born without conscious deliberation
words atumult, cascading
an avalanche

Floodgate closed this long time
with stares on non-moving
hand and cries of drought
and entreaties on the muse to smile and favour
with writer's hand poised
Ready and waiting for nothing
but half-rendered thoughts
on half-thought out ideas.

-=0=-

Posted with the Pinoy Poets yahoo groups, 1 May 2006.

--andoy