and the air
made love
to every pore
in my body
and there were
about fifty women
hoeing government land
nearby
in their colourful scarves
and loose shirts
and long skirts
and I embraced
the sunlight in my arms
and danced with the forests
and mountains in delight
and when we laughed
the clouds moved
in the sky
swaying with each other
roaring in happiness.
into me
and all around
there is debris
and I am soon
losing life
blood flows
out of my body
like an endless sea
that suddenly freezes
and everything is gone
like waste and now
there will be no dawn
in the long arm of time
you are just a pawn
so be gentle be honest
on you let no one pour scorn.
the butchery
the madness
of war
will our world
always be violent
will we never
be at peace
will we never
breathe easy
will we fill
the heads
of our children
by teaching them
to drink blood
will we file
their teeth
and make them
sharp as knives
and will they
then bite
our throats
and finish us?
takes place
in the sky
it is full of
light and darkness
and colours
and people
dancing
and moving
around
with their
friends
and the musicians
are gods
creating sound
in which
your heart throbs
wildly
and your body
ecstatic
becomes melody
and rhythm
and thrumming beats
of universal love.
my head and body
slowly change shape
my skin becomes fur
rough and wild
and I begin to run
I am full of
scents and trails
of humans
what I once was
and now
kill and eat.
is like the breeze
in a garden
from childhood
it is my mother’s
womb
it is the sound
of the ocean waves
it is the life in me
what has been
and what is to come
it is this warm moment
dripping with sunlight
it is the morning
whispering
I love you.
here in Kumily
bus after bus
with vacationers
go up my road
along with trucks
carrying water
to homestays
and hotels
more houses
are coming up
since I came
to this town
almost seven
years ago
and new views
have opened up
after trees were cut
I look at the mountains
all around me
and I feel like water
in their palm
as I am drunk
by the sky
and fall like rain.
better than life
its hug is forever
its love never dies.
in this world
people who will betray
your trust
a secret gang of deceivers
in cahoots
with each other
you can really
call no one
your own
unfortunately
as humans
we do not
have wings
we are grounded
so some attack
their brothers
and sisters
in sheer
frustration
pure evil
now this is
our environment
this violence
this backstabbing
we try to escape
and everywhere we go
it is there like air.
hammering me
as I go
little by little
into the ground
till I am fully
in the Earth
bloodied
and dead.
Dominic Alapat 