Friday, September 26, 2014

GO IMMORTAL!

GO IMMORTAL!
(For Lino Brocka)


Erle Frayne Argonza y Delago


The body dies, not the person.
Gone is your body alright

As birds announce at night
That gone is the sun
They ought to rest.

Your person, ‘tis a sublime conveyor
Of manifold messages and undying lore
Letters that spoke clearly to the unlettered
And the unlettered, to the lettered
Person is the perfect herald of life
The unlettered at last had eyes
And ears that stretched out to
Infinite worlds a-speaking: we ought make
Justice work finely, infinitely.

Go now, immortal!
Merge with the immense field of the kosmos!
A field without brims
Like you are to your fellowmen.
Rested and gone, be assured
The world will sing tunes of praises
For you a truly glorious countenance
You are a marvelous anthem remembered
Forever.


[Writ. 24 May 91, Cubao,Quezon City, M.Manila]

Friday, September 19, 2014

ON SCULPTING THE PHYSIQUE

ON SCULPTING THE PHYSIQUE

Erle Frayne Argonza y Delago


When is body strong and sturdy
But on occasions of rhythmic rounds
To sweatshops o’ physique’s crafting.

You are the sculptor your body wood
That you will shape with exquisite beauty and
Undisguised strength.

Your shaped physique is one authentic
Samson: it will mortally slaughter
Time as it reposes its own morgue;
Cremated is the browbeating fatigue
You are to your Self no cynic
Smoothened are the chances for your wishes
To do myriad works unlimitedly.

Like a true sculptor fulfilled
In its shaping, you are t’ward your
Physical frame.


[Writ. 15 May 1991, Cubao, Quezon City,M.Manila]

Thursday, September 11, 2014

CANINE IS GONE

CANINE IS GONE

Erle Frayne Argonza y Delago


They took him away from me
This canine friend of mine
Whose time a-living was tied up to me
We were one a-corded knot
When ‘twas of tender age ‘twas one
Nurtured by me with a peer’s affection

Upon its
Bathing
Tanning
Defacating
Urinating
I was there on the dot for these tasks
So was there this loving canine to police
The night for kins and myself

Gone it is, stolen
So is the cord broken
And my heart beaten.


[Writ. 15 May 91, Cubao, Quezon City, M.Manila]


Tuesday, September 2, 2014

SUMMER’S DAY

SUMMER’S DAY


Erle Frayne Argonza y Delago


Warm is the day of summer.
The city’s drenched with sweat
Much more for humans
Sweats abound as unwanted flies
On the surface of sticky skin
Sticky is the summer’s day.

Warm yet blessed is the summer’s day.
The hot sun indeed bakes the skin a-gruel
Yet so does it burn all malignant germs
They quiver like it were their last
Winter, on a summer’s day
The signs of sickness shy away.

The body is a sturdy rock
Unreached by echoes of ailments
Only echoes of joy a-fleeting on a summer’s day.


[Writ. 15 May 1991, Cubao, Quezon City, M.Manila]