New Wave Revolutionaries: The Sleepyheads

Orchestra conductor Leopold Stokowski once said, “A painter paints pictures on canvas. But musicians paint their pictures on silence.” While most people see music and visual art as separate entities, The Sleepyheads, often serving as the opening act in Manila’s premier galleries such as Silverlens and Mo’s space, construct their songs to serve as the [...]

Birthday Letters by Ted Hughes

In his first poem, Fulbright Scholars, Ted Hughes predicts the wonderful disaster that would be his romance with Sylvia Plath: It was the first peach             I ever tasted             I could hardly believe             how delicious             At twenty-five I was dumbfounded             By my ignorance of the             Simplest things Published in 1998, [...]

Into the Valley of the “Vigo”

Crank up the “Vigo” Volume Challenging mainstream musical conventions, Vigo combines jazz, rock, traditional pinoy balladry (kundiman), modern beats, and a dash of folk to create their own unique sound. With each artist having already forged their own reputations in the Manila soundscape, Vigo is more than just your run-of-the-mill garage band. Vigo is a [...]

Some Shel Silverstein…

*A little bit of Shell Silverstein is always a great way to start the day. Woke up at 5 am …and for no good reason! Despite the lack of sleep, I do enjoy the churning silence of dawn.  As Allen Ginsberg once wrote in “An Eastern Ballad,” “I wake to see the world go wild.” [...]

12 Again…

Oh, to be 12 again… Riding my big black 10-speed bike. Racing through the streets Wind in my hair Heart pumping legs pedaling faster and faster until cheeks flushed cotton-candy pink leaping off plopping down arms spread out in the middle of a grassy clearing eyes up at the Azure sky

Questions (First Published December 8, 2008)

Who do you miss? What makes you sad? Do you walk with your head towards the sky or bowed down to the ground? What do you think about before you slip into sleep? Why are you here? Do you remember the day I went away? What did the dandelion clock taste like, as they invaded [...]

Berlin, Berlin (First Published December 8, 2008)

Berlin Bearlin Berlin How you’ve captured me in your claws your red sky Has welcomed me pock-marked arms Or am I just a poor orphan to your many lost children? What must I do to fall into your line of grace? Tongues wagging I fell into you wandering through on a happy May day changing [...]

Evening (First Published March 3, 2009)

The yellow light illuminates black marble countertop. Outside my bedroom window, the city skyline, and sometimes, even the train, snaking through Manila. The neighbor cooked fish again. For breakfast, lunch and dinner, the putrid smell of oil sizzling on the frying pan would waft into the apartment, leaving its scent in my hair and on [...]

Air (First Published January 28, 2009)

Air Goes up like sand Eyes shut, I claw away the soft grains Each gasp takes in more But it’s my instinct Either way, I go down Air Slips away In a tiny box Fist on wood Warm blood But I don’t feel the pain It’s not going to work Air The fish can breath [...]

Avoiding Alice (First Published December 11, 2008)

Running, runnin’ Gotta get that flow Jump off the roundabout that spins, spins, spins til I’m feeling so oh-alone Got nowhere to go but back down the rabbit hole Where Alice lurks in the shadows She’s not my friend The cat’s got my back And the Mushroom eater too I don’t care anymore My mouth [...]