Ofero Basbas

at the beginning, facing a blank page,

don’t let the editor in.
...

Would have stayed a bit longer
but i am running out of words
i had hoped my words would count
for something like the great poets,
...

what is happiness. then?
is it like a passing fad
a breathe, a puff, a dewdrop?
the longer i live the lesser
...

ano, kun siring, an kaogmahan?
ini baga sarong bagay na uso lang ngonyan
sarong hinangos, buga nin duros, ambon lang?
habang ako naggugurang, nagdidikit an sakong aram; recuerdo asin pagkakataon,
...

a rose in one hand and silence

in the other,
...

let the poet be, for he has gone the way of dreams
in that space and time where he sometimes lives
there is nothing there, or everything there
empty, full, empty, fool, empty.
...

lambang turo' may sadiring tanog
lambang turo' may sadiring lugar
lambang turo' may sadiring pangaran
...

for sure, you only promised
one thing: being there

being there when the sun shone and
...

In the beginning

there was sound
...

come here, this is my undoing:
here in the velvet of night where all began
and where all will end;
this black moist veil embraces my being
...

harsh light carving dark tattoos in his arms, he looks across
the street to dead men in stone-carved statues;
posed there, as still
as the post he seeks shelter in,
...

gentle, my joy
like the leaf that
shudders in the cold night
gentle, my sweet
...

down the stairs, trotted little steps
laughter stepping gaily behind them
in my heart, i knew only
this secret thing:
...

each one a drop that sings a different note
each one a drop that drops a different place
each one a drop that shares a different name.
...

once more, indeed, i just couldn’t believe

the ticking clock would not stop nor quit
...

who are you? i asked. river. it was all i heard.
your true name? i persisted. river, she repeated;
then she was quiet, as if there was something
i just didn’t get; she did not need to explain.
...