Lagumbay.com » Verse — Fear

A Note For Silence

Allan — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 02:34:06 +0000

I hope you will be happy looking back at all the tears you never had to cry,
at all the pain you never had to feel, and all the love you chose to never share.
I hope it is somehow satisfying knowing that you were never truly hurt
because you were never truly vulnerable — always distant, never close,
never one to start — ever so afraid that having to say Goodbye
would break your fragile heart.

“Pain is good sometimes,” she said — this memory, this ghost inside my head –
this imprint of an old friend who has since ignored, forgotten, erased.
Pain is good sometimes, I say, surrounded by family and friends
creating immortal memories I cherish, wearing them with joy and honor,
like Auden’s rose on St. Cecilia’s Day long past the painful heartbreak
of having to say Goodbye.

Then what do you do when they forget about you — when you find yourself
preserving memories only you care to remember? Is your heart big enough
to hold the dark empty void left behind each time you gave a part
of yourself away? What happens when you vanish from their lives and
the vow you made to always remember turns into an eternal wish
that you could somehow forget?

Farmville Haikus

Allan — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 04:55:13 +0000

Clicking and waiting
This is so embarrassing
Twelve hours for rice!

Formerly strangers,
as a token of friendship,
I gift you a cow

These cherry blossoms
at the edge of my small farm
are taking their time

Visiting your farm
fertilizing and feeding…
I’m not your damn bitch!

This game is pointless
I could be more productive
yet I am still here

I found a penguin!
No, I don’t want to share it,
I want to keep it!

Raspberries in two,
strawberries in four hours –
I am a loser

Billy Corgan sang
“Time is never time at all” –
T’was about Farmville

I saw a sad cow
on my way to a neighbor –
I have to refresh

Ten Masked Phantoms Passed Me By

Allan — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 17:35:02 +0000

Ten masked phantoms passed me by, each taking something
of myself — my youth, my health, my faith — swept in the whirlwind
of rushing ghosts. Two buildings and thousands of lives in New York,
The symbolic stadium in New Orleans — the floating bodies
and the unapologetic monsters they revealed. The dead of war –
parents who mourn their sons and daughters, many in languages I know not.
The paralyzing fear that made a nation surrender itself to a cowboy
for protection. The lust and greed that led to this economic catastrophe
Poverty, famine, disease. Scapegoating the foreigners. We chose change –
a victory based on a promise yet to be fulfilled. Ten masked phantoms
passed me by, each taking something of myself and when they left, arms full,
I was empty save for a novelty called “Hope.” I’m not comfortable with that.

We Are Pestilence

Allan — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:57:24 +0000

We have War and Famine on speed dial
and occasionally exchange “wish you were here” e-mails
like old friends rarely gathered in one place these days.
We catch up with each other by watching Anderson Cooper
visit a town shortly after one or two of us have arrived.
This week, we’re stuck at home, quarantined
with some tamiflu and well-wishes by wire
far far far away from being who we are –
Plague and Pestilence should have been out
dancing the night away, doing our best impression
of politicians by shaking hands and kissing babies,
sharing God’s creation with the rest of God’s creation –
so what if this creation is named H1N1?
Let him cast this demonic possession back to the swine
’cause we’re getting better, we’re feeling fine
and life will go on until we are forgotten once more
and we’re in somebody else’s documentary special.
For now it’s Plague, Pestilence, and their cats
staring out the window at a fearful world –
the scythe too heavy to lift,
the weather too warm to bear,
and just considerate enough not to be ourselves.

Fred, my pet piranha, hates you

Allan — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 03:44:14 +0000

Fred, my pet piranha, hates you –
He’s making grumpy faces every time you walk by
and it’s too bad because I think you’ve been a pretty good friend
and I don’t want you to die.

You’d think he’s mostly harmless being stuck in that tank
but you would be wrong
’cause Fred’s been taking classes and he’s very convincing
and you’ll dip your head in the water before long.

He’ll ask you to come over, even bribe you with cookies
and you won’t have a choice but to go
His mom was in marketing, his dad practiced law
and he won best-of-breed at a dog show.

Fred, my pet piranha, hates you –
and very much would like to eat you alive
so I guess it’s best that we just say goodbye
’cause Fred and I are going swimming at five.

These random thoughts conspire

Allan — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 01:37:19 +0000

These random thoughts conspire
too fleeting, too drawn to shiny objects
like a child who wants to talk –
this one’s about fire, now ghosts, now souls,
now human nature, how aging Christians
will be fed to lions under Obamacare,
now ghosts again — these memories I plead with,
thoughts that zoom past like the metrolink
loud, powerful thoughts with flashing red lights
and bells in the background as I wait patiently –
foot on the brake, mildly entertained, mildly frightened.
Then just when I thought I’ve caught a metaphor,
it pauses, spins mockingly and fades into reality

Once more on the brink of the unknown

Allan — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 15:30:19 +0000

Once more on the brink of the unknown I stand afraid,
content to watch eternity from a stationary moment
clinging to the warmth of here and now,
helplessly slipping into the darkness of tomorrow

Sometimes the silence finds me here
Sometimes I find the peace I seek
Sometimes my youth comes home to rest
Sometimes the fairy tales return

Once more on the brink of the unknown I stand afraid,
a complacent warrior frozen by uncertainty
unable to accept what lies beyond his failing grasp
with the hope of a promise unfulfilled

Sometimes lost laughter beckons me
Sometimes I remember innocence
Sometimes a joy reveals my heart
Sometimes the man is not as broken as he thinks

Born knowing death walks behind me

Allan — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 15:29:03 +0000

Born knowing death walks behind me
Knowing he can run faster than I could.
I know he toys with me once in a while
Tapping my shoulder with a car accident
Or a painful illness for fun.

I know he’s behimd me making faces and
Deciding if he would catch up or not.
Knowing he has to do so someday.
Probably deciding what to do with me
When he catches up…maybe something new!

Don’t know who he is. Maybe a stranger,
A friend, perhaps family, or maybe a
Machine, or a drug I’m allergic to.
He could be my shadow, or the one
I fear the most…he could be me.

Haikus (6/28/08)

Allan — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 07:30:48 +0000

Washing women’s clothes
The drag queen gets some strange looks
at the laundromat

A rubber spider
here unceremoniously
failed to frighten me

Forty minute wait
Tumble dry on high — I sip
sixty four ounces

Trees shade the sidewalk
zooming motorists speed past
cyclists passing through

Whites here, colored there
I feel a little guilty
Segregating clothes

Mercy

Allan — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 07:30:26 +0000

Silence is an unwritten psalm, a song of praise unsung,
It is an unspoken promise, an oath not made nor broken
thus kindly accept this humble token bowl of marinara –
Spare us from your wrath, I beg for mercy, giant squid.

The doom I wish upon the world can wait, for now I seek
a different fate than the countless others who are dead
rolled in crumbs of Italian bread. Lift thy curse
and let me live. I pray for mercy, giant squid.

The stars now afloat shall sink and the sky
shall be blackened by your ink as every living creature dies –
look kindly with your humongous eyes and call the slaughter off
and keep us safe instead. I beg for mercy, giant squid.