Siesta

Musical hour, royal sun enthroned.
Shadows have retreated into the mind,
wind warm to my cheeks. I tune my ear
to magpie robins. Sitting in the shade,
I watch light through the tree’s crown
dot the ground, pointillist.

Wondering why I smell dung
I hear a cow low, but I see nothing.
Dust gathers in my ribcage.
I gather brown leaves, pull filled pages
off my notebook.

After lighting
a small fire I return to the root, where
I sit and close my eyes, will myself
to burn weight, feel light.


Underwater

I practice weightlessness,
my eyes closed, my bed
a hand to bright awareness.
I imagine flows through my body’s
tree, river towards the songbird
in my ribcage, heartbeat
music to my organs. Silence
glows, as fishes move
caudal and pectoral fins.
Scales shimmer as I lose
flesh and bones
to wonder.

Water curvature holds
my suspension. I pause in blue
as the last insight swims
after the shoal.


Jonel Abellanosa lives in Cebu City, the Philippines. His poetry collections include “Songs from My Mind’s Tree” and “Multiverse” (Clare Songbirds Publishing House), “50 Acrostic Poems,” (Cyberwit, India), “In the Donald’s Time” (Poetic Justice Books and Art), and “Pan’s Saxophone” (Weasel Press).

Facebook: Jonel Abellanosa