By Victor Penaranda
After several days of relentless rain
Words came back neatly to me in sans serif
So I can pronounce words like “blue sky” clearly
Without being threatened by rising floods
Or becoming disaster in the making.
There are no wicked typhoons or fierce monsoons;
Only the imagination of the seasons
Influences the weather beyond reasonable doubt
Contract workers drive this morning to be dazzling
So evacuees can return home safely
To reconstruct techniques of quiet survival
And ponder with a sense of emergency
How those in power have made an occupation
Of privileged speeches and stealing taxes
Without drowning in the effluence of lies.
I’ve been made to choose between acquiring
Gravitational strength or the ability
To absorb light and express “lightning” surely
So I can declare both houses of Congress
In a state of shameless calamity.22 August 2013
Bay, Laguna