the first poem

posting this as requested by cousin sunny, my philo teacher in third year college...

as you can see, this is very raw. i consider this my "first poem" because i wrote it after my first writers' workshop and after writing this (and after people had reacted to it), it suddenly dawned on me that i could write poetry. (sometimes it's really better to start things late in your life). part of that realization was that poetry is so much more than the poet because the poem can contain insights and experiences that the poet him/herself cannot grasp. that's the best thing about art--it's about serving a greater knowledge and wisdom, encompassing all space and time. what comes out of you will just surprise you.

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Silence

lives in the rainforests
of the Amazon
Where every drop
of cool rain
Falls
as a thread
of gossamer curtain
Parting
to reveal a mime:
Spiders spinning life-tales
between giant trees;
Big brown ants
readying a rich feast
for their queen.
Silence

walks through this
Aging carpet
of muddy earth and leaves,
through a dark, endless
cavern of translucent green,
covering each breath
with a heavy blanket
of quiet.
Even the earth does not speak
as it claims an old tree
crashing

soundlessly.

081597

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photo taken in a reforestation project in the watersheds of Cebu, a remnant of kaingin.