Excerpt: The Magma Poem by RIC BASTASA

the natives are smelling so badly
saliva dries on their lips
they rub carabao manure on their bodies
and put
a dead beetle on their navels

there is no water in the river where they come from
it was taken by thirsty fish towards the
China sea

they are thin
i mean their children who only eat
buds of
the guava tree

their stomachs are filled with air
their
hairs with lice

i guess you know when this happens
and why this happens

because, it is fiesta time
and there is no more road for us to use
because the more important figures
are busy playing
deaf.