[poem] running away

running away

leaning back on the wall
your droll smile paints your face
and your eyes fix on mine
as it has for most of the evening

as if you called me
I come near
and nearer
leaning over you
"I apologize
but I cannot take the kiss
you want me to take"
I bow my head
my lips dry and trembling
I graze your cheek
and I turn around and leave

--andoy
3 October 2005

[poem] six senryu

six senryu

Waiting in the restaurant
flowers and Okamoto on hand
arguing with the birds and the bees

Dark stormy night
the world twists and turns
wild dancing under the rain

Heart pounding and excited
shivering in the rain
racing against lightning

I enter the door
wet and panting
your eyes open wide in surprise

Caterwaul escapes me
while inside your head
I twitch and moan

Tears rolling down
puckered lips
kissing memories goodbye

-- andoy
6 october 2005

[poem] another temptation

another temptation

placing finger to your lips
softly so the others would not hear
I said, "may the wish be the act"

You tipped your cap
grabbed my beer bottle
looked me in the eye

and took a long drink

-- andoy
3 October 2005

[poem] senryu

senryu

rain pelting the hut
restless rustle in the night
moans and giggles

--andoy
3 October 2005

[poem] haiku (2)

haiku (2)

restless rustle in the night
moans and whimpers
rain pelting the hut

--andoy
3 October 2005

[poem] haiku

haiku

sun rising slowly
a halo of blinding red
fire tree in bloom

-- andoy
3 October 2005

[poem] prowling, andoy castellano, 26 september 2005

prowling

a slight tremor, a nervous tic
skin crawling with warmth
eyelids flicker in animated frenzy
nostrils flare in time with the heartbeat
inviting, daring, challenging
welcoming
a pause and a half
a half step back
disguise the hunger

--andoy
26 September 2005

[poem] salaryman's day (12 senryu), andoy castellano, 13 September 2005

salaryman's day (12 senryu)

opening the wardrobe
white shirts, black pants
salary man

bread and hot coffee
wife nags after breakfast
stomach grumbles loud

bright sky morning
worker leaves for work
bathed in drab sunlight

brilliant colored billboards
big houses, rich suburbs
commuter pass with eyes closed

jeepney stereo
loudly blares morning news
while passengers sleep

numbers floating on the computer monitor
eyes strained
and painfully cramped fingers

hot noon sun
burning his nape
having lunch on the sidewalk

eyes spacing out
adding money on ledgers
riches not his

dark sky after office hours
a woman crosses the street
red umbrella blooms

walking in downtown rain
racing faceless crowds
tired feet in wet shoes

he massages liniment
on his limbs
evening cologne

kissing wife good night
eyes close and dream
writing finish to another day

--andoy castellano
13 September 2005

Optional Holiday?

Sunday, August 28, being the last Sunday of the month, is National Heroes Day. And in line with this, Press Secretary Bunye clarified last Friday that Monday August 29 (today) would not be a holiday. Along came Saturday, and Executive Secretary Ermita announces that the President has decided that Monday would be a holiday. This statement in itself was not a pronouncement as the official announcement would come later. Sunday, the Office of the President decides to release the announcement that there would be no classes in public and private schools, as well as government offices. There would be work in private companies. Monday morning and I think they did this just to muddy, perplex and confuse an already confused citizenry, they qualify that it is optional. And the morning hasn't fully started yet, and they have a rejoinder that if it isn't too late to announce, then the private companies can call it a holiday.

Now I ask, is the President just PMSing or does she have Alzheimer's?

--andoy
29 August 2005

[SHARE] the day you said goodnight, Hale

The Day You Said Goodnight
by Hale


Take me as you are
Push me off the road
The sadness, I need this time to be with you
I'm freezing in the sun
I'm burning in the rain
The silence I'm screaming
Calling out your name

And I do
Reside in your light
Put out the fire with me and find
Yeah, you lose the side of your circles
That's what I'll do if we say goodbye

To be is all I got to be
And all that I see
And all that I need this time
To me the life you gave me
The day you said goodnight

The calmness in your face
That I see through the night
The warmth of your light is pressing onto us
You didn't ask me why
I never would have known
Oblivion is falling down

If you could only know me like your prayers at night
Then everything between you and me will be alright

She's already taken
She's already taken
She's already taken me
The day you said goodnight.

-=0=-

-=0=-

This is quite popular these days. And I catch myself humming or singing snippets of the song. Keeps on running round and round my head. Must be the blue skies and dark rain type of weather that we're having. Downer.

Good song though.

--andoy
9 August 2005

Pinoypoets - sharing is enriching: August Pinoypoet of the month: Anne Stephanie Cruz

Pinoypoets - sharing is enriching: August Pinoypoet of the month: Anne Stephanie Cruz

Congratulations to Anne Stephanie Cruz, Pinoypoet of the Month for August.

[Share] Shade of Black, 7/16/05

Lightscapes: [POEM] Shade of Black, 7/16/05

Shade of Black
Mitz, 7/16/05

The phone rings
and the night bleeds, cut
by the sharpness of noise.
My ear, cold against
the receiver, deciphers
burning decibels:
"You've hurt me so much,"
over thin wires connecting
kilometers of pain.
"This is the second time
you've broken a promise."
Heartbeats become deafening throbs
in the ensuing stillness,
pale as withered moonlight.
"You've broken me,"he says,
"I've once believed
we have the same ideals.
You have changed."
Tears are invisible
in the shadows,
save for the errant drop
that catches moonlight,
gleaming like the last
ember of hope.
"Remember my promise
to marry you next year?
Guess what? You're right.
People do change."
The night, the oppresive darkness,
turns a darker shade
of black.

-=0=-

This is a poem by Michelle Lanuza. A good friend though we've only seen each other face-to-face twice.

--andoy
19 July 2005

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Last Saturday, I picked up my copy of the latest Harry Potter book before we (me and my family) went to Sta. Lucia to watch a movie, "Fantastic Four".

Unless the author changes her mind, this will be the penultimate installment of the Harry Potter series. As such, I can say that it delivers. It answers several questions: How can you kill Voldemort? What was the Riddle diary (in "Chamber of Secrets") all about? How can Professor Snape get back to the Death Eaters and report on them? Who takes over as Gryffindor Quidditch captain? Why was Tom Riddle born in an orphanage? How can Harry train to become an Auror? These set the stage for the next (and last) book of the series.

The larger questions remain, however. And these include new questions, like: "Who is 'R.A.B.'?"; and "Will Harry Potter kill Voldemort?"

It's a good, easy read, with almost an emphasis on simplification. J.K.Rowling's style is not like Asimov who ties up everything too nicely. Rowling leaves some loose ends which are self-explanatory. She also leaves some untied for the reader to review earlier books and to serve as teasers for succeeding books.

I think I'll be re-reading Harry Potter 1-6 for the next year or two, until the last one comes along.

--andoy
18 July 2005

a terminal trick

Forwarded message:

i hope this isnt too far off topic for this group but i thought i
should share this

goto the terminal with an internet connection and type

telnet towel.blinkenlights.nl

then watch star wars episode 4 (the original) in ascii text ;)
have fun
`km

Yuk, what kind of dumb menu system is that? Oh, so that is Windows!

-=0=-

I picked this up on the MacOSX Yahoo groups courtesy of Kris Murray.  Enjoy.

--andoy
15 July 2005

[poem] Conspiracy

by Andoy, Mitz, Steph and Bambina
posted at Pinoy Poets 4 July 2005

Rolling through landscapes lost,
smoky eyes in a dark red-lit room,
cacophony of white noise foiled against
distinct syllables of poems newly writ.

Listening to echoes of words ghosting by
entwining, undulating like twin snakes--
verses birthed in a flash of lightning
swallowed by silence,
slithering slowly out from its hollow
like notes from an indian's flute.

Tonight, we conspire to write.

-=0=-

I forgot to post this collaborative poem on this blog. I've not
posted any new poems with Pinoy Poets since then. And that's quite a
long drought.

--andoy
13 July 2005

(Share) Somnambule, Cielo Maaliw

Poem was first posted by Cielo at her blog.

Somnambule

Je mesure chaque soufflée argentée
que m'envoie la lune;

Je te vois, lucide, accentué
sculpté par la lumière;

Je t'entends murmurer, renvoyé
en échos sur les murs;

Je te sens, ma peau s'en est brulée
de baisers et caresses purs;

Je rêve, mais je peux déclarer
que c'est toi -- j'en suis sûre.


Rough translation:

Sleepwalker

I measure each silvery breath
sent in by the moon;

I see you, lucid, focused,
sculpted by the light;

I hear you, whisper,
echoed by the walls;

I feel you, my skin tingles
from pure kisses & caresses;

I dream, but I so declare
that it's you -- I'm sure of it.



~~ Cielo Maaliw (Vendredi 1 juillet, 2005)

-=0=-

--
--andoy
7 July 2005

Pinoy Poets Anniversary at conspiracy

Steph posted the events at the Pinoy Poets Anniversary at her blog (Angel 24/7).

It was a blast. Great affair. First anniversary and all, this looks like only the beginning of something big.

--andoy
29 June 2005

Three Coffee Poems

MACHIATO'S CURSE
Mitz Lanuza, 6/10/05

  I should have known.
  You are Eve,
tempting me with the
poisoned gift of caramel.
I partook of your sweetness
as I would
ambrosia
(with a packetful of
brown sugar, of course),
savoring your heat with
my aroused tongue,
every nuance licked with
abandon.
  And, like a good lover,
you've kept me awake 'til
5 am.

(posted with Pinoy Poets 17 June 2005)

-=0=-

Espresso at Midnight
andoy castellano, 20 June 2005

Italians would drink espresso
first thing in the morning
and as morning becomes afternoon becomes evening
they'd drink with coffee
weaker and more tepid
sometimes chewing a coffee bean to follow
garlic-heavy pasta

I wait for you at this cafe
with my third espresso
nervous that I am
waiting to meet you
at two when you leave work
and come with me behind closed doors
 
(posted with Pinoy Poets 20 June 2005)

-=0=-

Caffe Latte
Anne Stephanie Cruz, 23 June 2005

We are all given the ingredients of happiness, but the mixing is left
to ourselves. – Ethel M. Dell

Standing hand in hand
you turn to me as the barista asked
what will it be?
Venti Latte, as always,
was my warm reply.

Your eyes probed mine in question,
espresso brown fingers
swirling over my milky white ones
Why not  plain café au lait?
you ask, 
saying that's all latte is anyway.

To you,
who sees coffee as just beverage
that may be so.
But that's not how I taste it.

Unsparing lovers prefer latte over anything else.

You see I am milk, 
and you the rich brew
I must constantly empty myself into-
the single shot of espresso
forever waiting for me
to fill the entire cup.

We are latte,
café au lait is half and half.


(posted with Pinoy Poets 23 June 2005)

-=0=-

Mitz Lanuza posted her poem with the Pinoy Poets group and instead of a critique, I posted the espresso poem.  Afterwards, Steph answered with her own poem.


--andoy
28 June 2005

[Share] A Friend With Benefits, Mark Fredrik Gumban, 06/28/2005

A Friend With Benefits
Mark Fredrik Gumban

Why?
During the temporal stasis of one's comprehension
As each others' appendages dance in the air,
Does this question beckon before me,
Interrupting my attempts to catch a glimpse of my other's
Mind-manifesting and dripping visage

Why ask why?
Is it the appearance?  The appearance of the stretch
Marks behind countless trysts,
Or perhaps, the appearance of what seems to be
The gross lacking of an outlook
Held by the majority.

Morality?
An abstraction of what they say
Is the firm absolute.  But is it not, merely,
An end of the scale that penetrates both
The creative and passive, serving as a constituent
Of the thesis for

The truth?
My reason is to simply relive that split-
Second when the gates of heaven shatter and
Welcome me upon the clouds of nine
As the trembling fluidic energies of creation
Fuel my eternal search

For purpose?
Within the tapestry of this existence I know
There is a part that I am obliged to fulfill,
And deep inside the shaft of one's psyche
Something had liberated this impression unto me as
My one true bliss


-=0=-

Mark Fredrik Gumban is a member of Pinoy Poets.  All rights are to the author.  Posted with Pinoy Poets 28 June 2005.

-=0=-

--andoy
28 June 2005

Guests and friends at a christening

I was at a christening last Saturday. She was Samarah Saw Buan, the daughter of Sawfin Saw and Marcelo "Jun" Buan Jr. (hence the name). Born May 1, 2005. Great looking girl. Looked like her father, and that's according to the other guests.

There's lots of stories to tell about the parents. And a whole lot of those stories were told during the reception. But mainly about the mother, Sawfin Saw. I first met her at AMA Computer College way back 1989. We were on the Dataline (the school paper) Editorial Board. For all intents and purposes, we were a barkada with the keys to a school administered room. Years later, I met Jun Buan at Digital Equipment Filipinas. And while there, I saw Sawfin at a technical training, and I thought that I can pair these two together. (This is not the place to discuss why I had this crazy idea. I thought it was a great and very sane idea at the time.) Eight years later, thy're married and have a daughter. The sanity of the idea is still up in the air.

One of the guests and "ninangs" was a good friend from AMA, Tess del Pilar Cacnio. She's Sawfin's best friend. And thinks it's my fault that Sawfin and Jun are now married. Eight years after they met, they could have decided against the idea. And they did, actually. But am I still to blame. I think so too.

I haven't seen Tess for the last thirteen or fifteen years. Last I saw her was two weeks before Mount Pinatubo erupted. And I don't even remember what year that was. I remember the meeting we had because we had a long talk. Personal issues. With her, and not with me, I was there only to listen, discuss and to help. I remember the Pinatubo eruption because she was then a contestant for the Supermodel search, and during the event proper, the volcano erupted, and it "snowed" in Manila. Memorable. Not easily forgotten.

She was telling this story. Seems that her husband Mike, asked her a question. Mike asked what she'd do if one day, she went into their son's room and find him having a "BJ" (there were kids within hearing distance including my two teenagers, so she used the term "BJ"). She answered that she would be surprised, but on second thought as long as it was a girl kneeling in front of her son, it should be okay. Around the table, we had a laugh at her answer. There was me, my wife and another former school mate from AMA. (My two kids don't count. If they had laughed, I would be frightened and would want to know what they're reading.)

Continuing the story, Tess had asked Mike in return what he'd do if he was the one who found their son having a BJ in his own room. And he had answered: "Buti ka pa, anak."

At this we gave Tess a mild dress down. That was fun.


--andoy
27 June 2005