"Poet writes beautiful filth"

"Poet writes beautiful filth"

by paolo macariola

I ruminate endlessly

on the grotesque

concepts

of my self inflicted

methods to madness

trying to decipher Venus

is to dismantle

its equations

into bite sized smidgets

a piece of sanity at a time

but i dare not swallow

this beautiful filth

as one could never

challenge to regurgitate

a rock

on the other hand...

possibly in another dimension

i may have been

just like you

rapidly spewing

trite distractions

but in the meantime

i shall go on

ruminating venus

and dismantling madness

on a piece of paper

stenciled endlessly

with grotesque metaphors

i dare you to swallow

my beautiful filth

somewhere at the tip

of your tongue

will scatter the taste

of my madly concocted delusions

laced with bitter nectar.

-- and if somehow

you manage to swallow it

you would feel

a disruptive cramp

as though you've ingested

a rock

that your mere cliche'd existence

could never regurgitate

Mariposang tala

"Mariposang tala"

by paolo macariola

sa dulo ng sigarilyo

mariposa'y tumakas

pusong apoy ang sumibol

naupos ang tala

binurda ang mga ulap

sa aking kalamnan

mula sa pulso'y tatakas

lalangoy ang mariposa

sa kaibugturan ng tala

hinimlay ang upos

nagnulo sa lupa

nalunod sa mariposa

Reciprocating gravity

"Reciprocating gravity"

by paolo macariola

i held her

the same way

a child would hold his mother

so as not to be

frightened

by fireworks,

she was days my senior.

for me she was the ocean

where all of my

unhampered emotions

flowed.

her voice, the gong of stars.

i knew i loved her

after the earths gravity

pulled my body

not knowing

if she could ever love me back

she held me

the same way

i held on to my mother

whenever i grow scared

of fireworks,

she was years my junior.

for her i was the ocean

that gave meaning to the sun.

my arms, the sky that cradled her stars

i knew she loved me

after she stood ground

in the shadow of an eclipse

but the earths gravity pulled my body

and somehow i knew

how i could never love her back

Scarlet twilight

"Scarlet twilight"

by paolo macariola

You listen

to the twilight of tarots

and sculpted a dark horizon

of meaningless stars

for you, it was the will

of the gods

written in the palms

even before our souls

found flesh

you depart

invisible like starlight

reflecting moonbeams

in the wake of April.

I listen

to the voices in my head

seeking flesh

but for you

it must be

the will of the gods

as i sculpt scarlet patterns

that bleed

twilight

screaming at irrelevant stars

i depart

(for the one residing in some far galaxy, making the stars meaningless)

Forever in silence Pt.3

"Forever in silence Pt.3"

by Paolo macariola

Silent is the river

of our immortal defeat

i now fall upwards

into voiceless oblivion

six feet under the sand

is our borrowed existence

together we embrace the shadows

millennia's apart

We spent forever like this

in silence, in defeat

we wither in the dry flowerbeds

under the dying galaxies

ours is but a trickling memory

rain falls upwards

i cease to believe

-october 6 2009 las pinas city, Philippines

Oda

"Oda"

by paolo macariola

Tulad ng gabing di matapos tapos

ang ginaw ng mga palad nating di nagdadaop

samyo ng pangungulila'y humahagod

sa mga labi nating di nag aabot

tulad ng gabing di matapos tapos

ang pag andap andap ng mga anino

diling sa braso mo ay maigapos

hiling doon ang dilim ay maubos

tulad ng gabing di matapos tapos

ang yakap ng di maririnig na pagsamo

salamin ng iyong mata ay aagos

ako ang hangin na sayo'y yayapos

Ikaw Cotabato

"Ikaw Cotabato"

by paolo macariola

Ikaw Cotabato

ay isang batong

bumulwak

mula sa karagatan ni bathalang

hinumla ng matalim ng dunong

iyong sinukat ang hanganan

ng iyong imortalidad

nang iyong tinawid

ang apatnapung araw ng mga ilog

at binagtas ang mga gubat

ng makabagong pamumuhay

Ikaw Coatabato

ay isang batong

araw araw bilanggo

sa mga gusaling bakal

na sumusubok sa iyong

inipong dunong

doon ka natipak at nagalusan

na parang aspaltong nilublob

sa ilang talampakang putik

Ngunit ikaw Cotabato

ay isang batong nagsisimula pa lang makita

ang hanganan ng iyong imortalidad

nang ikaw ay hiniwa

ng matalim na hangin ng dunong

ni bathala

(For a friend)

Ocean deity

"Ocean deity"

by paolo macariola

whenever i pass by the ocean

i would like to imagine you

picking up seashells

minutes before sunset

your skin dusted pearl

drenched in rivers of hair

weaved by the careful hands of a sea goddess

immortal as sunset

and just before the first stars appear

i would think of you

as the deity

from whose breast

flowed the coral sky

whenever i pass by the ocean

that lulls me to dream