Asian Writer: 2011

Monday, April 11, 2011

Poetry eBooks by Ysabel San Pedro - Schuld

Email: ysabelschuld@yahoo.com on how to get copies.

Past Articles on Business Star

Monday, April 4, 2011

Keep on dreaming

A lollipop. A teddy bear.

A swatch watch

You keep me happy.

You gave me plenty

Five thousand pesos

Ten thousand kisses

Three long-stemmed roses…

You were my man

My master,

My dream,

My world.

When can we meet?

You say, “Tomorrow my dear”

I beg

I stole

I borrowed

Yet you can’t say no.

Nor could you let go.

Your mark tattooed on my thigh

more valuable than the Olympic Gold Medal

more eternal than my human soul

that’s the love you gave

Yeah, that’s what you say

Keep on dreaming.

One seed at a time

the scent of mangoes

the pulpness of lanzones

the headiness of chicos

the succulence of jackfruit

invades us

silent yet swift

we climb higher

inhale exhale deeper

I see blood flowing

as flagellants faint

in hot sun,

paramedics panic

life is a blur

as Holy Week howls

our carabaos cry

kneel in prayer…

the stickiness of rice

rhe slipperiness of okra

slide through my tongue

Mother says

“Eat your meal

Clean your soul”

as I swallow the revelry

exhale inhale deeper

taking in the mangoes

one seed at a time.

That day

shrapnel eyes

pierce through the veil

your rainbow cries

your dangling arms

i kept my silence

yet I cannot cry

nor can I weep

I see your face

that day

sallow

sunken

sad

sanguine

your songs

still reverberate

in my chakras

you are here

you never left

your whispers

tell me

it will be ok

i could not be

taking another step

once more

i touch this ground

that took you away

that day.

In time of need

Ashes to ashes

Dust to dust

We are made of

You and I

felt the murmurs

of mother earth

fill us

coddle us

and finally

snuff us

into oblivion

into its cradle

into its molten arms.

I remember you

pulling

each pedro

and every dick

out of passion

or was it a propaganda?

who knows

you hand was there

out to reach out

We need it

(oh, damn it!)

without forgetting

who we are

without obliterating

our own being.

going going gone

going on

going through

going east

going west

it is coming

you could not see

it’s clear

pure being

you sniff

you snort

you inhale

you exhale

you could not

get enough of it

you could not

get away from it

going on

going through

your eyes

your mind

your soul

its pure

its magnificent

its grace

is beyond words

you worship

its snow-like beauty

its lucidity

its eternity

going

gone.

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Our Lady of Fatima in our Home

It's a Christian Catholic tradition to honor the mother of our Savior who assumes various "persona" such as "Our Lady of Fatima," "Our Lady of Perpetual Help," etc. Our Lady of Fatima was in our home recently. We had guests ... we prayed and shared a meal together.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

With birthday girl, my friend MJ

Those Children

Freight car was home.

We retreat here when the sickle shines

Our pinkies aren’t pink anymore

Our tugboat of coconut shells

and our threadbare paddles

made us experts in attaching fishhooks to

snells. A holler of herring, haddock,

trout or salmon gave us oxygen to our

lungs. We clamp the air into crates,

then we negotiate in the marketplace.

The only perils we face are those

hammerheads and sea bass skulking

in high tide.

I also shuck oysters in exchange

for an apple cider.

Those green crabs come in swatches

yet we collect them in our zinc pails.

Those schooners dock in the quay

It is drowsy in the pier

We disengage our rusty treble hooks,

ungrip those sculls from our oars

positioning our shittah rudder plank,

trawler’s nets and our main catch

for the day

Tomorrow we will greet the sunkist

Our catgut lines are our shivs,

our threadbare needles,

our veins.

Now, we return home

In livid flashlights

We perked up our gas lanterns

savoring every flicker

as the outside grew glimmer

and fainter with the last sip of

black coffee.

Note on "Mirrors" and "Eternity"

"Mirrors" and "Eternity " are experimental poetry I did in 2006. I just wrote these in white heat with simple split second images or words without filtering them in my mind.. They did earn a tuition discount to join summer literary seminar workshop in Lamu, Africa.. but i was not able to join...