Kabangka.
When we stand at the edge of the universe
the stardust ebbs and flows between our toes
We, the Filipinos,
comb our fingers through hair, thick and wavy,
washed in rivers of sinking stars
Brace our shoulders against celestial wind
Bodies darkened by kisses from the galaxy
Behind us,
Deep British Blue Meteor Belts blossom into space
Red Spanish Dust Cloud Debris whistle past our ears
like gunshots
driving us away
When we leap at the edge of the universe
and kick the stardust behind our heels
comets scrape against the hull of our boat
our knees brace, elbows lock as we leave behind
our dying home battered by red scabs and blue bruises
Years later
Our hearts will flutter as the breeze whispers
through the looser seams of this old boat
Wishing one day
We could leave Earth and return home
Somewhere, Up There, where we used to watch
the Earth beat
to the rhythms
of our rowing
Instead, we sow stars
hoping one day among clouds of sampaguita
galaxies might come bursting into fields
their fruits exploding with milky way and honey
Instead, we stay silent
when they tell us we were strangers who had fallen
from the exotic edges of the universe
where the angels and aliens live in heaven
Instead, we trail our fingers
on the surface of the aimless faceless waters,
waiting for a wind to catch our sails,
watching our stories like the ripples begin growing
We are going
everywhere
and nowhere
knowing that
our flowing is
(only another wave kissing)
the paddles
of our rowing