To Catch a
Second and Turn it to Forever
by Maningning
Miclat
Give me another chance
So I can
count the rose petals,
Let me watch the raindrops fall (on to eyeglasses),
While I sing, while I scream.
Grant me
another day
Let me wait for its return,
Let me squeeze into a bus to follow.
Let me guess. Let me think.
Grant me
another second.
Let me muddle through.
So I can catch that second,
And turn it to forever.
The
raindrops will fall on the ground.
The crowd will disperse.
Every question will have an answer.
Forever will not stay.
Time is
running out.
My heart is throbbing.
Waiting for a response.
Waiting for it to become.
So grant
me another second,
I will catch up with it,
I will lock it in my heart,
And turn it to forever.
Laughter
by Maningning
Miclat
He left me
when he could
no longer stand the laughter
that I gave him
while he begged me not
to keep memories
alive in poems
to hurt myself
and make those
who read
sad. I laughed
when he shared
his life with me
while holding him
to make it easier
and maybe
less painful
to live on.
Laugh! I told
him, but
could not get
his attention.
Laugh! I asked
him, but
he left in
anger.
And left
before he understood
the courage
that held my laughter
Testimony
by Maningning
Miclat
The territory of shadows is a petal,
An organic wish, a solidified thought,
An awareness of wind catching fishes,
A gratitude for getting rid of clothes.
With the kind gesture of an evening: low tide and safe,
I am sharing the water with the Hundred Islands.
Floating on the galaxies' reflection,
I float as night sky carves down an embrace,
an elusive feeling of eternity and floating,
a gesture of wind and a bath of moonlight
from the sea bottom. I am the salt in the evening.
I am the celebration of beginning.
I, finally getting rid of my clothes.
I, weightless, without knowing what.
Between the sky and me is the wind.
There is an ageless consciousness of being a woman.
There is a shapeless idea of being in the water.
There is a testimony of the sky and the earth.
There is no longer the terrestrial truth,
I am no longer a victim of war.
Father and I
by Maningning
Miclat
The leaves are shaking,
"Look. It's the wind!"
You said, " No, those are leaves.
Wind cannot be seen."
Snowflakes whirl down
- An emblem of purity.
You said, " No, it is deception.
It is here to cloak the filth."
A lovely object
Took my fancy.
You said, "It's Useless."
I haven't walked too far,
But I am feeling tired.
Let me rest by the path for a while.
When the wind blows, I feel it.
When snow swirls down, I see it.
The lovely object I hold in my hand.
Berso # 2
by Maningning
Miclat
Dumaan ako sa tahimik na ilog,
Ang buong mundo ay parang natutulog
Kung may bunga mang sa tubig ay mahulog
Parang ang puso ko itong nadudurog.
Kung mag-isa ako huwag nang isipin
Sa dilim ay dapat pa akong hanapin
Habang may luha ay huwag pang ibigin
Sa pangarap ko ay huwag nang gisingin.
Kaya kong maghintay sa mga tula mo
Marinig sa awit ng kabilang dako
At tuklasin sa paglalakad na ito
Hamog at luha ng bulaklak at damo.
Mapapanood ang sayaw ng tutubi
Mapapakinggan ang ibong humuhun
iHihinahon ang pusong di mapakali
At hihimlay na sa mapayapang gabi.
Dumaan ako sa tahimik na ilog,
Ang buong mundo ay parang natutulog
Kung may bunga mang sa tubig ay nahulog
Parang ang puso ko nga itong nadudurog.
