Now/here no/where woman

One last, in case you aren't already tired of all these pine-scented rengas. This one was started by Alfred Yuson: Revive the scent of pine A scent of love and life The pine's scent, mundane yet surreal The scent covered by buildings Yes revive, revive the conforting fragrance of years gone past Pillars of spirit feed the spring Let the trees contort Joyce Kilmer into spring Misty pines, shadowless Rise up once more and embrace us With your warmth, with your protection Live, O Great Pine Much more than a tree It's this mountain's spirit. Contributors: Arci, Charity, Chinee Palatino, Bianca Santos, Karla Delgado, Frank Cimatu, Rishab Tibon, and Peter, who wrote two stanzas instead of just three lines.

This one begins with a line from Ed Maranan: (Hoy Nash, kilala ka daw nya.) the short fuse sputters, the days are dire but still my hunger for learning's desire and thirst for drops from the skies to clear heaps of grey, hurry to the west! lean fields of silenced myths grow desire For mists in the middle of the day, despite the sun. despite the moon, it's dry in the middle of the night. The contributors: Justine Jovero, Jette Dumpayan, Freda Dao-ines, Junley Lazaga, Rachel Pitlongay, Melvin Magsanoc.

This one was started by Priscilla Macansantos, mathematician, poet, Chancellor of UP Baguio: In summer I dream of water There's the bride's veil flowing in Kennon Where a dip reminds of laughter and childhood And a native lass numbly walks eyes all ablaze in the morning sun The water kisses her feet But she would rather choose to be abandoned in the sun. The contributors to this poem: Annaliza Lopez Nauyac, Melisa Therese N. Malingan-Sapdoy, Marilyn Cayabyab, Ida del Mundo, Chanelle Kim.

This one was begun by Francis Macansantos: There is only one river or one tree The words make you shiver voices that are free While spirits are laughing, And thunderbolts a-crashing The heart shuddering, that day, remembering Remembering that ring of fire Where no one knows what's low or higher I love the way you pronounce "intertextuality" Far in a land where stars are low doan How you clucked your tongue unshivers me. The contributors to this poem: Raja Shanti, Solana Perez, Mercy Hong, Frank Cimatu, and Rishab Tibon.

This one is from Marra Lanot: A scent of pine passing through the wind Just like lost loves fleeting with time Or like gentle lips that kiss the edges of my nostrils Memories spill from the cup of my thoughts, swirling away like steam A scent of pine piercing through the mist like a ghost drifting in the wind A stone drops from a tree Upwards to be free. Second to third lines are from: Baboo Mondoñedo, Solana Perez, Feliz Perez, Tann Arvisu, Raja Shanti, Kai Yulo.

This one was started by Sid Hildawa: You come to me like scent of pine Hoping to leave the armpits of Manila And expecting a feast of sun-dance picnics And inebriating spirits emerging from misty conversations. A scent I'll be, a scent of me To return again, knocking at your door To turn to fragrance the acrid score. Second to seventh lines were written by: Frank Cimatu, Merci Dulawan, Grace Subido, Rishab Tibon, Abigail Torreliza, and Junley Lazaga.

Nope, that is not a typographical error. Panagrenga it is! A celebration to rival the Panagbenga's frivolity and utter uselessness! At the poetry symposium held two weekends ago ( hardest hangover to shake off ever -- so far!), we had a renga experiment. A renga is a Japanese form of poetry in which the first three lines are composed by one person, and the next two lines are composed by another. We broke these rules of course. We asked the seven poets to start one renga each on seven sheets of paper, and we passed the sheets of paper along through the audience asking them to write a line or two each. Thankfully, we ended up with seven rengas with seven to ten lines each, instead of seven rengas with 50 lines each. (We had about 50 participants in all.) Here is the one begun by Marjorie Evasco: Pine, the word to name the tree and a longing Pine, so much more than a scent; it is our being Pine covered up by wires and walls Pine slowly enveloped by mounds of rubble Let your cool nee...