June 2019

White Bodies Splayed on White Sand

Alfonso Manalastas June 24, 2019

1.

There is no mapping out a space
definable only by the pigment

of its occupants. In these shores,
the economy of skin and hair

and eyes outweighs the mandate of coin.
An island local jokingly quips:

the border that outlines General Luna
from the rest of Siargao is determined

by the sudden, sporadic presence
of white bodies splayed on white sand.

A German tourist at a local nightclub
takes out his phone to film six

brown bodies across him, cheeks
blushing pink, teeth polished

and gleaming like mothers-of-pearl;
an ornate display of what attempts

to be the finest catch in an island
best known for its clam and fish?

their scales silky, slippery; guts strong
like shells carrying saltwater; mouths full

and seething with a language
so broken it is almost beautiful.

Urban Jungle

Lakan Uhay Alegre June 24, 2019

Concrete trees mount this jungle
the home of the corporate hoarders and lunchless laborers.
Sunlight veils its walls, producing shadows 
to shade the windowless homes.
Traffic symphony signals the roofless residents 
to wake-up, to look for a new cardboard sleeping bag
and to scout another cave for slumber.
Elite apes live in concrete treehouses
while peasant roaches creep the cemented ground.
Both live harmoniously
with freshly picked out supermarket fruits
and recycled meat as nourishment.
Garbage fertilizes the jungle streets
and nurtures the strong with bacteria.
Every night, bullet rain blesses this jungle
to purify it from weeds, and blood splatters
the walls, painting a geographical
map of metropolitan mass murders.