Poem 8/30: Your Are Not Five or Fifteen

To be a dog, or a grown up. Or to be

a penguin. Aiden, who is now five,

has this power. To dive in to 

an imagining so real, he becomes

the thing. He is angry at his mother

when he is forced to wear underpants.

Penguins don't wear underpants, Mama.

I told you, I am a penguin today.

He is your nephew, your heart, your moon.

And you are not five or fifteen. You are

not even twenty five, not by miles.

Now, you must dive in. 

To be forty one.

To be a woman, brown woman in

this land uncertain about its new skin.

Brown woman in this world 

the old man is unprepared to see.

What is the power that you hold 

in this new brown world?

Is it your sex? Is it your skin?  

Imagine a Sunday at its best. All

sunshine and blossoms. Imagine

all voices raised, all sights on high. 

Now imagine the pulsing. Your heart. 

Your heart.

April 6 Poem: How Things Work (6/30)

My father liked to point out

the mechanics of things.

On planes, we would always sit 

near the wings so we could watch

as the pilot maneuvered the

flaps, opening wide to create 

resistance the shutting them tight

for a smooth glide. In airports as

planes landed, we looked out

for the landing gear - those wheels

the pilot released just as the plane 

touched down.  When I was 

learning how to drive, he showed

me the car engine, made me see

how it moved as he hit the gas or 

shifted gears. He  made me 

change a tire, taught

me how to check the oil. 

The heart is an engine and a man is 

an engine and a father is an 

engine. My father showed me 

the mechanics of love. Most nights

till I was twelve, he would tuck

me and my sister in bed,

brush our hair out of our eyes,

kiss us on our foreheads.

I learned what tenderness 

looked like on the face of man

when my father kissed me

goodnight. And later, much 

later, my father taught me

forgiveness. When I broke his

heart, with my angst and my 

words. When he broke my

heart with his struggles

and failings. The heart,

the eyes, the tender eyes,

the forehead kisses. My father

taught me the mechanics of

love. He took me under the hood

so I would know. So I could see.

April 4 Poem: The Dance of the Left-Right Sway (4/30)

And each city is a flash,
each citizen a speck
on this train ride between
townships. Strangers sharing
this car, this air, this free wifi,
this conductor, this suspension
between to and from. Behind,
conversations of apparent
importance, spoken on a 
Blackberry with urgency.
"Family emergency... No,
there will be no way to reach
me at the hospital... Yes,
I promise to be on email 
as much as I can..." then
a long silence, not even a sigh.
Across me, a watermelon 
coat outshone by a smile, 
it must be love, a new love
she cannot contain.
She stares out the window,
as if to make a wish and 
then, she is suddenly sad..
Beside me, a logbook,
an iPad, a calendar and
a calculator. It is tax season
in the East Coast and he
is both King and drone,
he leaves his armaments
only once and returns with
his third coffee. 

And the speed of the 
journey is swaddled in
the softest sunlight,
camouflaged by the
left-right sway. And the man 
with the clicker is always
the boss. And the suit
who steps out to take
a call means business,
so does the pearl-wearing
hair flipper he is here with.
The conservative in the
seat next to me reads about
the missionary position, and
the hipster across from him 
is bored. And the argyle 
sweater in the middle is
pensive and the watermelon
coat is smiling again.
And each city is still 
a flash, and each citizen
is less of a speck in the 
sway and the rock from 
New York to Boston today. 

April 1 Poem: Manang Adang (1/30)

Illuminada was always old,

her soft raisin hands

running through my hair

every morning before school,

gingerly and forcefully holding

together my innocence

and endless questions

in a perfect braid

so taught, my head

would ache till recess.

We called her "Manang Adang,"

this woman who took care of me

and my sister, Veronica. She made

our meals, did our hair, mended

our clothes, poured milk

into glasses in the mornings

and evenings. She was

our first lesson that you can

grow your love for another,

so big she becomes family.

Later, she was

also our first lesson in

betrayal and heartbreak.

First the golden spoons

my grandfather squirreled

through the war, concealed

from the Japanese and

corralled against

the bombs. Then, it

was a gold bracelet my

great grandmother

had made especially

for the arrival of her first

great grand daughter.

There, all there hiding

among her things,

the wrinkled handkerchief,

the betel nut, the rosary

she prayed every single day.

* "Manang" is a Filipino term of endermeant and respect for someone older, an older sister or someone you feel sisterly respect for.