THE GUERILLA

THE GUERILLA

Erle Frayne Argonza y Delago


Fine, fine is the guerilla
knows s/he that the hinterland
is an infernal zone
where the enemy’s textbook lessons
seem like lost dots and dazed calculi
in a wildly vast encyclopedia

Fine, fine is the guerilla
s/he the master of warfare’s laws
of cunny maneuvers
amid tricky foliages and fields

The guerilla
Just like culture heroes
Is a sung hero


[Writ. 04 June 91. Cubao, Quezon City, M.Manila]

OF ARTIST AND DUSK

OF ARTIST AND DUSK

Erle Frayne Argonza y Delago


O! Eager artist!
Benign sib of the dusk
Vessel of the spirit of imageries

The dusk—
Is this your fraternal twin
Who reminds you always
Of your noble mission?

You are a speaker
And audio system fused
As one
Before the world

Your absence to many means
A worldless world, lifeless life

The dusk always reminds you
That salads of ideas are
Concocting
In your mind
Waiting to be revealed


[Writ. 04 June 91, Cubao, Quezon City, M.Manila]

MORNING

MORNING

Erle Frayne Argonza y Delago


Morning is a wondrous haven
It emboldens me to beg the plants around
Tell me where’s the heavenly gate
That leads me, leads me
To the folds of Aphrodite
With whom I can best fashion queries
About the whereabouts of my sweet
Lifetime partner

For indeed weary had I grown
I am disdained by time and fate
Faulted though I am guiltless
I simply hasn’t seen the least chimera
Of my love desire even if ‘tis were
But a mere chimera


[Writ. 03 June 1991, Cubao, Quezon City, M.Manila]

THOU ART MY BENIGN TALISMAN

THOU ART MY BENIGN TALISMAN

Erle Frayne Argonza y Delago


You sweetest Lady are my benign talisman
A billion bewitching charmers combined
Your Aphroditean countenance makes
The mind-rending world of peoples
A magical Eden alive
No more can poetry fathom
Your limitless charm and glow
You are to me the endless narrative
All epics’ visions fulfilled at last

[Writ. 27 May 91, Quezon City, M.Manila]