T3POETS

ALLEGIANCE   It takes patience to live with an octogenarian— would have been simpler to drop her at Fairway Gardens or Coronation Lodge, let her see out her days playing bowls, watching matinees, bingo on Tuesdays.   But our Filipino roots would not allow it— our customs, chromosomes, deoxyribonucleic acid;…

singing teacher   the red graphic Marvel tee over khakis, black rimmed  glasses strike your pale face. the scuffs on the Nike from K Rd  footpaths match those pen marks in the palm of your heavy hand. the stench of that Australian  shepherd that nips at my young knees  and…

Gaucho    Despite the ‘Deacon Blues’ to spite                           his wife inland, Roman jams                                 with Captain Morgan & a magnet                                           bottled on his lips. He puckers at the casts                          of spray-tanners, clementine skin peelers              & their sober kids through his incantation —     I knew ya when you were this tall —…

Egg Timers this basement   of dreams             distorting          contorting                     bloating                          sand               …

Bedtime Story For Grown-Ups There’s a snake that I ate. It’s a winding black mamba laying eggs in my gut.   I used to go running the kind where my hair was salt-crusted and my hands full and wet dropping pipi shells all down the shoreline   Recently, I’ve gone…

Under the mango tree This is Lovers' Spot 12 o'clock on the dot Every weekend night   Pandanus mat spread on tarpaulin Fiji Bitter bottles cling together Whispers of Taki mai carried by the night draught   Old village tales entails Shallow promises - deep secrets and lies All disappear…