Two Poems by Jonel Abellanosa

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