Stories of barbara jane reyes poems
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Today as ever, she gives me but silence.
Copyright © 2011 by Barbara Jane Reyes. After the waters receded, how the shores became the color of clear crystals and blood.
Hija, I bring the sea tobacco leaves and fruit, but still no stories come to me. I do not know why they tried to bury the serpent, but because of this, he hissed and lashed at them.
How she freed her body from the silent, murky depths.
She who was born of the rocks fell in love with the one who was born of sea spume. I do not know why they tried to bury the serpent, but because of this, he hissed and lashed at them. O diwata, ang inyong mga salita lamang ang hinihingin ko. She has taught in the MFA programs at Mills College and University of San Francisco.
There upon the rocks, they spread seeds and soil, and from these the bamboo sprouted. How the wind also spun and let out a mighty roar. After the waters receded, how the shores became the color of clear crystals and blood.
Hija, I bring the sea tobacco leaves and fruit, but still no stories come to me. I plead with her, O diwata, pakitanggap po ninyo ang aking handog.
How earth convulsed as if laughing. Today as ever, she gives me but silence. How the wind also spun and let out a mighty roar. Reprinted from Diwata with the permission of BOA Editions.
Photo credit: Peter Dressel
I am a longtime Bay Area Pinay author and educator.
Barbara Jane Reyes was born in Manila, Philippines, raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, and is the author of Gravities of Center (Arkipelago Books, 2003), Poeta en San Francisco (TinFish Press, 2005), Diwata (BOA Editions, Ltd., 2010), To Love as Aswang (Philippine American Writers and Artists, Inc., 2015), Invocation to Daughters (City Lights Publishing, 2017), Letters to a Young Brown Girl (BOA Editions, Ltd., 2020), and Wanna Peek Into My Notebook?: Notes on Pinay Liminality (Paloma Press, 2022).
Hot winds brought to them fragrances of the dead.
Again, She Tells the First Story
Once, when there was no light, the wind danced with the sea, whose glassy surface became untame funnels and silver crested waves as she leapt and spun. I plead with her, O diwata, pakitanggap po ninyo ang aking handog.
You have heard this one before, no?