Category: Issue 11
TO THE LEFT OF BOOM
down into a series of scenes,
at the spring fed pool on Mother’s Day,
in the produce aisle, at the ball game,
golden lit, the about to be shattered,
already doomed normal before
the monster or the monster wave hits—
sunshine on the canoe and glinting off
the water smooth inches from the falls,
innocently making a salad or taking
a shower. It feels like a play today,
Whistle, or like a piece of the future
has lodged itself in my shoulder.
Monday it’s a report on the impossible
future of bananas. Tuesday it’s the story
of limes held hostage by cartels. Both
still appear on our shelves, but we don’t
know for how long. News comes and goes,
but fate is a cycle longer to unfold.
The fact is, Whistle, we turn and turn
away. Because it’s too terrifying.
Because today the world is here for us
with heart-shaped peaches ripening
in a brown paper bag. There’s no way
to repay borrowed time, Whistle,
so we spend it.
***
Lisa Olstein is the author of three books of poetry from Copper Canyon Press: Radio Crackling, Radio Gone, winner of the Hayden Carruth Award; Lost Alphabet, a Library Journal best book of the year; and Little Stranger, a Lannan Literary Selection. Her work has appeared in many journals and anthologies, including The Nation, American Letters & Commentary, and Boston Review. Recipient of a Pushcart Prize and fellowships from the Sustainable Arts Foundation, Massachusetts Cultural Council, and Centrum, she is the lyricist for the rock band Cold Satellite, fronted by acclaimed songwriter Jeffrey Foucault. She teaches in the MFA programs at UT Austin.
To Fork the Tongue
***
Barbara Jane Reyes is the author of Diwata (BOA Editions, Ltd., 2010), winner of the Global Filipino Literary Award for Poetry. She was born in Manila, Philippines, raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, and is the author of two previous collections of poetry, Gravities of Center (Arkipelago Books, 2003) and Poeta en San Francisco (Tinfish Press, 2005), which received the James Laughlin Award of the Academy of American Poets. Her fourth collection, To Love as Aswang, is forthcoming from Philippine Writers and Artists, Inc., in 2015. She is also the author of the chapbooks Easter Sunday (Ypolita Press, 2008) Cherry (Portable Press at Yo-Yo Labs, 2008), and For the City that Nearly Broke Me (Aztlan Libre Press, 2012). She teaches in the Yuchengco Philippine Studies Program at University of San Francisco, and lives in Oakland. Find her online athttp://barbarajanereyes.com.
To Bless the Meek
FILIPINA. NO MATTER IF YOU TELL THE GIRL YOU ARE POOR,
YOU MIGHT AS WELL BE TALKING TO A CHILD. THEY JUST
DON’T UNDERSTAND MONEY HERE. ALL THEY SEE IS YOU
HAVE MONEY TO GET ON AN AIRPLANE AND FLY TO THE
PHILIPPINES TO MEET THEM. YOU MUST BE RICH IF YOU CAN
FLY ANYWHERE. I DON’T KNOW EXACT PERCENTAGES BUT I
WOULD BET LESS THAN 1 PER CENT OF FILIPINAS HAVE EVER
BEEN ON A PLANE AT ALL. I HAVE KNOWN SO MANY GUYS
HERE THAT JUST THINK THEY ARE SO WONDERFUL THAT
THESE GIRLS FALL IN LOVE WITH THEM INSTANTLY. IF YOU
DON’T THINK A GREEN CARD TO AMERICA IS AT LEAST HALF
THE REASON THEY WANT TO MARRY YOU, THEN YOU MUST BE
EITHER BE VERY DUMB OR JUST CRAZY. I HAD VERY MANY
GIRLS TO CHOOSE FROM WHEN I WENT TO THE PHIL. ALL OF
THEM 20 YEARS YOUNGER THAN ME. I AM OVERWEIGHT NOT
THAT GOOD LOOKING AND I SURE DON’T HAVE MUCH MONEY.
THESE GIRLS WANT TO COME HERE AND WORK AND SEND
MONEY TO THEIR FAMILIES. THIS SAID FILIPINAS ARE USUALLY
FUN GIRLS TO BE AROUND AND WILL TAKE VERY GOOD CARE
OF YOU. COMING TO AMERICA THEY WILL LEARN AMERICAN
WAYS AND UNLIKE THE PHILIPPINES THERE IS DIVORCE HERE.
ONCE HERE IF YOU TREAT YOUR GIRL RIGHT SHE WILL
PROBABLY STAY WITH YOU FOREVER AND BE A GOOD WIFE.
ONE WORD OF ADVICE THOUGH IF YOU MARRY SOMEONE
UNDER 25 AND YOU ARE OVER 40 GOOD LUCK. GIRLS UNDER 30
STILL HAVEN’T MATURED ANY MORE IN THE PHIL THAN THEY
HAVE HERE. I KNOW PEOPLE WILL ARGUE THIS POINT BUT
I HAVE KNOWN MANY YOUNG FILIPINAS AND THEY AREN’T
ANY DIFFERENT IN THIS RESPECT THAN AMERICAN GIRLS.
I WAS MARRIED TO A FILIPINA FOR TEN YEARS AND AM
MARRIED TO A BEAUTIFUL FILIPINA NOW. I ENCOURAGE MEN
TO MARRY FILIPINA GIRLS IF THEY HAVE THE CHANCE
BECAUSE THEY ARE USUALLY SWEET LOVING PEOPLE. JUST TRY
TO TAKE AS MUCH TIME AS YOU CAN TO GET TO KNOW THEM.
IT IS EXPENSIVE TRAVELLING TO THE PHIL AND YOU DON’T
WANT TO BE IN TOO MUCH RUSH TO MARRY SOMEONE JUST
BECAUSE THEY ARE CUTE. IF YOU ARE DIVORCED AND HAVE
KIDS IT IS EASIER MARRYING A FILIPINA THAN AN AMERICAN
Seek: Male 29 – 60
For: Friendship, Long Term Relationship Education:
Bachelors Degree Have
children: No Drink:
Occasionally drink Smoke:
Don’t smoke Religion:
Catholic Occupation: Other
Relocate: Willing to relocate
to another country (Any)
Appearance Hair color: Black
Hair length: Medium Hair
type: Straight Eye color:
Brown Eye wear: None
Height: 5’4″ (163 cm) Weight:
50 kg (110 lb) Body style: Slim
Ethnicity: Asian Facial hair:
N/A Best feature: If you’re
lucky I’ll show you later Body
art: None Appearance:
Average Seeking nice guy,
honest and loving man who
can love me, a person who
can actually
develop relationship thru long distance then it comes…
bang u will just say that i love
this person i want to be with
him. someone who is seriously
want to be settled and be love
someone who likes
Filipina woman
to whom he will
respect
woman
with all his
heart.
***
Barbara Jane Reyes is the author of Diwata (BOA Editions, Ltd., 2010), winner of the Global Filipino Literary Award for Poetry. She was born in Manila, Philippines, raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, and is the author of two previous collections of poetry, Gravities of Center (Arkipelago Books, 2003) and Poeta en San Francisco (Tinfish Press, 2005), which received the James Laughlin Award of the Academy of American Poets. Her fourth collection, To Love as Aswang, is forthcoming from Philippine Writers and Artists, Inc., in 2015. She is also the author of the chapbooks Easter Sunday (Ypolita Press, 2008) Cherry (Portable Press at Yo-Yo Labs, 2008), and For the City that Nearly Broke Me (Aztlan Libre Press, 2012). She teaches in the Yuchengco Philippine Studies Program at University of San Francisco, and lives in Oakland. Find her online at http://barbarajanereyes.com.
To Give It to God
dad is 60 years old, disabled missing half a leg, and in
very horrible condition to take care of himself.
He found a woman online from the Philippines who
was 19 years old at the time (Now currently 21)…..
And he flew many times to see her, and eventually she
came on a fiancée visa. My dad owns lots of properties.
He owns about 15 houses, and his income is from the
rent. He had these properties BEFORE the
marriage. From the start it was obvious she was a
gold digger, but when she first came she was nice to
everyone. Eventually she started ignoring everyone but
my father, and convinced him to kick out my brother,
and begun to separate our family. They’ve been
married for 9 months, and just recently she’s been
acting horrible right after he gave HER SISTER
$56,000 to buy a house in the Philippines. And now
she’s been non-stop yelling. And he ended up refusing
to give her money, and now she won’t speak to him at
all. They want to get a divorced, and she’s hiring a
lawyer because she wants all of his rental properties,
and my father was too stupid to get a prenup. Can we
get her deported? Is this marriage fraud? She’s taking
advantage of a sick, disabled man for his money, and
the whole marriage was just a fake. How do we do
this? We called homeland security but no one will help
us. I don’t want my dad to lose all of his houses, and
he has no other way to support himself. Also she’s
lying and saying that he abused her, and is going to
use it in court. He was trying to wake her up because
he THOUGHT she passed out (she was probably
faking), and she got a SPECK of blood in her ear
because he poked her with a box because he couldn’t
reach her and then she called the police on him. And
now I’m afraid that they’ll give her the properties in
court because she’s such an amazing, manipulating
liar. Please help.
Male 25 – 37 For: Long Term Relationship
Education: Bachelor’s Degree Have children: No
Drink: Don’t drink Smoke: Don’t smoke Religion:
Christian Catholic Occupation: Nanny Child care Hi
there! I’m 25 years old, single and currently living
here in Ottawa, Ontario. I am working here as
caregiver. I love my work and i know this will be a
good start in building my new life here in Canada. I
can say to myself that I’m an independent self-
sufficient and flexible woman, I was away from my
family for 3 years because of my work. I am family
oriented and i love spending time with my family
when I’m home. I know that isn’t for everyone but
this is something that won’t change, my family is very
important to me. I never rush finding someone ‘coz
i believe building a great relationship doesn’t take just a
turn of a wand but it really takes time. Knowing each
other is very important. I’m just hoping i can find
what i am longing and waiting. I never ask that much,
i just need someone who is real. Sincerity, honesty,
acceptance are more important. I know it takes time
to build relationships and it all started with
friendship. I believe online site is the best way to
know someone because of my work, i am not expose
with people and one reason is i’m just new in this
place. Relocate: Willing to relocate to another country
Any Appearance Any Height: 5’0″ (152 cm) 5’2″ (157
cm) Weight: 45 kg (99 lb) Any Body Any Asian,
Caucasian (White), Hispanic Latino, Mixed Facial
hair: N/A Any Best feature: Any Body art: No
Answer Any Appearance Any Lifestyle Any Home
type House Any Living situation: Any Languages
spoken: No Answer Any English ability: Good
Fluent, Very Good, Good Religion: Catholic
Christian Religious values: No Answer Any Star sign:
Libra Any Personal Bust: No Answer
***
Barbara Jane Reyes is the author of Diwata (BOA Editions, Ltd., 2010), winner of the Global Filipino Literary Award for Poetry. She was born in Manila, Philippines, raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, and is the author of two previous collections of poetry, Gravities of Center (Arkipelago Books, 2003) and Poeta en San Francisco (Tinfish Press, 2005), which received the James Laughlin Award of the Academy of American Poets. Her fourth collection, To Love as Aswang, is forthcoming from Philippine Writers and Artists, Inc., in 2015. She is also the author of the chapbooks Easter Sunday (Ypolita Press, 2008) Cherry (Portable Press at Yo-Yo Labs, 2008), and For the City that Nearly Broke Me (Aztlan Libre Press, 2012). She teaches in the Yuchengco Philippine Studies Program at University of San Francisco, and lives in Oakland. Find her online at http://barbarajanereyes.com.
To Recite Tita Bruja’s Credo
***
Barbara Jane Reyes is the author of Diwata (BOA Editions, Ltd., 2010), winner of the Global Filipino Literary Award for Poetry. She was born in Manila, Philippines, raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, and is the author of two previous collections of poetry, Gravities of Center (Arkipelago Books, 2003) and Poeta en San Francisco (Tinfish Press, 2005), which received the James Laughlin Award of the Academy of American Poets. Her fourth collection, To Love as Aswang, is forthcoming from Philippine Writers and Artists, Inc., in 2015. She is also the author of the chapbooks Easter Sunday (Ypolita Press, 2008) Cherry (Portable Press at Yo-Yo Labs, 2008), and For the City that Nearly Broke Me (Aztlan Libre Press, 2012). She teaches in the Yuchengco Philippine Studies Program at University of San Francisco, and lives in Oakland. Find her online at http://barbarajanereyes.com.
indices
I was reading Derrida Last night
when with great delight
I took a call on the phone.My number isn’t reachin’
I said to the computer
and I wasn’t thinking of teaching
how to have you call home
no I wasn’t, noyou have to undress when you think it is best
but the artificial tarp
can’t do walking – can’t do walk-ins either
if you want it to get your food stamps for you
I really suspectIt is I who is really suspect:
orange baggy sweater that is just a replacement
for the other orange sweater which
I really liked.
now if you’re talking to me
I don’t even know
coding is up there / in the skies
in the heavens
I add to it with my you-know-whys
***
Josh May
and so this is how it goes
the sub-cultures regain. basically become an engine againas they had been. driving the culture instead of as they have been for the past 15 years
we don’t view – not the thing itself) as they had been again
but the sub-cultures start becoming that bottom up force that is no longer a market
and o
you may call it wishful thinking or luck or a pendulum but I don’t think that matters
yep, their singularity as an energy source the major culture tries to hold onto, maybe tap but even that is not the correct word, or rilly, more to say, tapping itself will not function, not how I have named it. holding on will work to a certain extent.
baths
the sea-spray in early spring can feel warm in com
parison
to the extent that you are the nest layer
with the full extent of vision this
***
Josh May
In a Vermont ESD District Office
it is often a storage space
lets honest people lie
and this hear
all the way of out
said space which napkins
the whole thing white
) “the largest [of
did you what
***
Josh May
get rid of
just value whatever it is
doesn’t have to enjoy
the fact
the
it is without regret
buttercups have more of a chance,
visionless as they are.
there – instant
***
Josh May
the use of
when whoever does what they are doing
is nothing but a holder for the indictment, dig
radical islam ce mal
no need to hide that from he
we or any other shows
like bogus the disruptor man
or transpire beest
or walking talking
[not hysterectomy but . . .] sets therein
to be not continued
yeah, cause I
don’t ask who is talking over me
as script, a script
natur-la pause – nothing we can escape: the banality of it
“O, O, but we can because
the instant each preferable you beg coffee now you know
like a radar” or something, the readable
ganging up, a harrowing torture, these two
the possibilities are endless, banality,
there, that is enough for disruptor man to feed on
curried squash is his metier, right. vindictive
popping in for
***
Josh May
Matter 