He cannot understand her

In the dining table:

They threw forks and plates and soup and spit

At each other’s burning faces

Until they grew tired they sat they crouched they slept

Preparing for next day’s meals and brawls

She mumbled she could not understand him

She was a woman he was a man

She was she he was he.

And so he stood and seized a butcher’s knife, the sharp shiny one

Pulled his pubic hair out

Sliced his testicles and cock

Slashed them with delight

One by one he dropped them on her plate, carefully arranged and spiced

And one by one she ate and chewed;

She touched her stomach

Drank water and licked her fingers and smiled.

resting on his

patient to count the hairs on his chest

to count every lie

their legs intertwined

but her mind seemed to roll

in someone else’s bed

still counting

like a stone

i’ll forget Audioslave

and i’ll go

to where I could be swayed

by the faces of emptiness

a form of resistance [but there was no resistance at all]

as if there were no lost pages

no cobwebs

and no Audioslave

a slave of audio

an audio of a slave to be exact

udyo? Hudyo!

that’s it! pick up the stones and the hudyo will be like a stone

like Audioslave

pick up a stone and stab it

til it bleeds to life

and it will feel it’s human

only that it is half human

the same music

the same audio

the same slave

get another cd

get another stone

get another me

get another you

get another us

yeah, us. you’re a pain in my ass

no us

no ask

you’re still an ass!

chants

your words

raw and alive

i can’t lick them

with my own tongue

let me taste your mouth

to make them all go away

kill them

and forget our death

a dinosaur’s menu

the dinosaur is calling

for a cup of water on a stove

one pack of chicken flavored noodles

bought from the neighbor’s sari-sari store

a hot yellow soup in a cold night

the silver spoon

dancing with the rain

one fresh egg in a bowl of soup

ready to feed the hungry dinosaur

what a dinosaur it is!

wanting for more chicken

more noodles

more eggs

a bowl of chicken flavored noodles with eggs-

that is the favorite menu of sad dinosaurs

and sad people

here in my hot classroom as I began to

think of you, starved.

loose threads

the weave of

these sheets

must be

too solid

too tight

for you to mumble

wanting more air

more space

on this king size bed

where I pretend

to sleep

in a coffin

tightly veiled

to bury a face

claiming spaces

between these linen sheets

mourning

candy wrappers

junk shop

recycled papers

the all-american rejects

a cadbury wrapper

no wonder

i keep you.

sa akong rosaryohan

niapil paglabyog

sa imong totoy

nga gigunitan

sa imong hapit nga sinina

ug sa unod ug lawas

nga akong nasikup

sa akong mga kamot nga naningkamot

ug ako kalit nga nalumos

naglabyog

a paintbrush

with traces of pink and black

a cassette case; empty

a Nike tumbler; water three days old

hardened Milo in a pink canister

Safari wrapper

little ants feasting

licking old memories

all sprawled
on this bed:

rejection is ancient

licks no gender

and no matter

how hard

you fuck

you still

can’t drive out

another woman’s laughter

another woman’s love

from my belly

the cloth of

these blankets

must be

too solid

too tight

for you to grumble

of wanting more air

more space

on this king size bed

where i pretend

to sleep

in a coffin

face buried

deep

on this floral pillow

creating spaces

between these sheets

biko

your underarms bare

I used to see them wet

while your old wooden ladle

patiently dancing

around the giant kawa

your long brown hair

such a sweet decay

the other strap of your bra

slipping

from your shoulders

slumped

your skin

cracked like the desert

your ladle continued to dance

your armpits wet

maybe you still smelled

like last Saturday night

when he came home

his body

untamed

swaying with his own raging music

his breath

like the ginger

that you sliced into pieces

his hand

like a spear

spinning around her face

not so beautiful anymore

your ladle danced again

your armpits wet

your biko

wasted

jolah-palikero!

mai mai- hmmm…mouth closed!

cheri- the morbid woman

maks- pakyu!

sir nino-new look ha!