Three Poems by Fhen M

 

Two Foo Lions

 

when new moon appeared in the night sky

when fireworks drove away demons

Grandpa Angkong and his friend spoke Hokkien

grandkids didn’t comprehend foreign tongue

but I understood the smile in his lips

and the fire in his eyes

every Spring Festival.

 

fronting the cultural stage stands two foo lions

one leans his paw on a stone globe

the other plays with her cub

I would think that 

grandfather moved the world in his hand

owned a gas station along Real

fuelled tricycles and wheeled vehicles

while grandmother cared for the household

boiled rice, cooked meal

fuel to keep the body going.

 

when grandpa and grandma passed away

we built them a Chinese temple 

whenever mother and her siblings enter

the ancestral house he created in Sabang

they talk to him as a spirit standing at the door

guide and guard us and the children

away from the evils of the world.

 

 

Triumphal Arch

 

Saltwater flowing gently in the Loom river 

before the bridge, an arch with plinths and columns

hidden keystone and thick voussoir 

this Roman arch in my old hometown 

gates the pueblo of bamboos and coconuts

inscription reads President C. P. Garcia.

 

Princeps Civitatis built triumphal arches

to immortalized the battles won

and successful expansion of empire

the Arch of Augustus, for instance,

with bronze statue driving a chariot horse

meant the completion of road construction

from city of Rome to countryside Italy.

 

Garcia composed verses in his local tongue

he wrote, for instance,  

Your beauty shines through

On the dark road of my soul;

established the Cultural Heritage Awards

Bamboo Dancers won first place

maybe that is his triumph.

 

Every Santacruzan, we parade past 

the Arch of C.P. Garcia

carrying a bamboo arch above our heads

singing a song in our native tongue.

 

 

Speed of the Game

 

a fair flower blossoms 

near the rim of a basketball court

I'd see her among blades of fern

 

players run as swift as Mercury 

wearing sneakers with his insignia

sound of a bouncing ball

screech of a fast break

swooshing in a metal hoop

 

amid the speed of the game

bright sun lights up her white skin

pinkish check and chiselled nose 

by gazing at the flower, time slows down 

slow motions of dashing players

(I’m no player, mere admirer)

slow motion of ball not yet touching the ground

 

but she doesn't bounce back

the love in my splintered heart

is like passing a ball 

and no one returning.

Fhen M. studied the academic subjects Writing in the Discipline, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴, and The Literature of the World at Eastern Visayas State University. His Waray poem “Uyasan” (“Toy” in English”) was published in a collection of literary works entitled 𝘗𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘭𝘪: 15 𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘓𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘸. His English verses "Lighthouse," “Seaport,” “Barbeque Stalls along Boulevard,” and “Tetrapod” appeared in 𝘗𝘰𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢 anthology series published by Clarendon House.  In 2024, Red Penguin Books’ 𝘈𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘛𝘪𝘮𝘦: 𝘈 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨-𝘰𝘧-𝘈𝘨𝘦 𝘗𝘰𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘈𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺 will publish his piece “Outside the Block Universe". One of his poems will also be included in 𝘍𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘢/𝘍𝘢𝘶𝘯𝘢 𝘈𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺 by Open Shutter Press.  Fhen M. submitted verses in Waray for the 5th Lamiraw Creative Writing Workshop, including the 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘺 “Duha nga mga pagtug-an” (translated in English as “Two confessions”). David Genotiva, Merlie Alunan, and Victor Sugbo were some of the distinguished panelists of this writing workshop held from the 5th to the 7th of November 2008. His Binisaya poems “To View the World,” “Those who were Left in Cancabatoc,” and other verses won the 1st Chito Roño Literary Awards.