Wednesday, January 07, 2004

Another serving of Pambie Herrera's Poems

CALL OF THE QUILL



Words flooded me in a navigable ocean

Like a lost ship sailing on a labyrinth

Scorned by typhoon's face

They came so rapidly

During my most impenetrable

Solace with anonymity

They came in torrents

Which my mind was unable to calculate

Much more decipher

All I can do was to entertain them

Like a hospitable host

And forgot they came even before they left



But they stayed

Lavishing my thoughts with its punitive torture

That has yet to be indemnified

By the slightest weeping of the ink

I know, they were meant to be

Hidden in oblivion

For if not

They may cause people to think

Of an extreme insanity

That plagued my senses



But I tell you:

They kept coming

Willing to bare their soul

And as I drench their nakedness

The more they became incessant

Of prodding me to take heed of the call





WHITE AUTUMN



There are no rainbows

During this time of pale autumn



I walk in sands of white

Beneath a shrouded cloud of black rain

Confetti leaves of monochrome

Smoldered by a once fiery memory

Forever shared in forgetfulness

By those who knew my last summer



The tear, a prism it should be

To change this lifeless scene

To a flush of kaleidoscope



But it failed to escape my eyes



It is here

But it can never be shed



I wait for the maple leaves to burst red

But it remained a shower of dust

Softening my path of pebbles



There are no rainbows

Just a memory of how this autumn

Confronts me

Without its colors





THE SHELL



Wrapped in a mellifluous embrace

You sing

The deepest song of the sea

Such beauty you capture

In waves imprisoned within your bounds

That an inquiring ear alone can hear



Even the palms of my hands

Cannot hold the immensity

Of your galloping song

For it escapes me

Like wind of past

Yet never loses its warmth

Upon my ear



And the sands are nowhere

But traces of a weathered affliction

Sang by a drowned soul

Seeking for home



You hold your song upon your breast

Only to be heard by those

Who keeps you close





TAGHOY NG DAGAT





Umiyak ka

Basagin ang mga luha

Tulad ng umaalon kong katawang

Patuloy na gingahasa ng bagyo

Walang katapusang alipin ng araw



Pahaw na ang mata sa pag-iyak

Manhid na sa sakit

Na dulot ng nalunod na pag-asa

Ni hindi na maisipang dumaloy

Ng abang luha



Kahit unos pilit na niyayakap

Sapagkat halik niya

Ang aking kalayaan

Nagbibigay halakhak

Sa mga gabing ligaw



Ikaw, kailan huling nakatikim

Ng alat iyong mga mata?



Dinggin mo ang aking awit

At didiligin ko ng alat iyong mga luha







INSOMNIA 6



Pulsating awareness

Of a hopeful darkness

Leading my wakefulness

To a fervent kneeling

I ask slumber to kill my eyes



But no!

The more I become incessant

To the night's call

Of its yearning



And in this deep recession

Of ebony's beguiling passion

I find my knees

In joyful intercession



DUSK AND SOLITUDE


Silent my heart is

Calm as it kisses

The crimson dusk

Birthing anew from

The saffron rays

Gently it glides

Unto the recesses

Of the sheltered moment

That only the abyss

Of time holds

A treasure trove

Yet to be uncovered

It remain placid

And undisturbed

Even as the dusk

Prods its way

To its disclosure

Its threat of aging

As it welcomes

The sweetness

Of darkness' song

And the lark

Raptures a burning note

That strikes the gentleness

Of my soul

Exploding into a mildness

Bliss

That the union

Of night and twilight

Alone can hear

Quiet it has to be

For it not to lose its song

A worth once told

This treasure that

I have kept for so long

The night creeps

And once more I will hide

This love

On my own