It was never a landslide: a poem that accompanies an interview

I was interviewed by Bookwatch, the National Book Development Board’s publication. The print issue was meant for release at the Frankfurt Book Fair. The online version may be read HERE. At the end of the interview is a poem with a rather long title. For those who know little about what’s been happening in my country of birth, you could maybe do an online search on the following phrases: EJK, extrajudicial killing, war on drugs, Duterte.

Here’s a screen grab from the issue. Hope you read the whole interview and those of other Filipino writers currently writing and living in other parts of the world. I would love to hear what you think of the poem and the interview. Thank you in advance.

When You Can’t Let the Truth Out

You need to silence those who seek to expose all those dark deeds. You trust nothing but your fist, the barrel of a gun, the whisperers of deceit. You surround yourself with others who either share your fear or who fear you enough to stay in line. Those who show they have a mind of their own are easy targets for your venom. You sit on your throne of bones. You tell yourself you are just because you are mighty. You need not explain your actions. They speak for themselves.

-o-

Ecuador grants asylum to Wikileaks founder.

THANK YOU, ECUADOR!

Rent a Horror Movie

after watching Jon Snow’s “Unseen Gaza”

We know the science
of decent programming.
Our eyes detect the borders
of the mind, what horror
must not be allowed
to reach its shores,
what anatomical details
need to be blurred,
excised.

Take for example the body
of a baby retrieved
in a bombing lull
after the passing of a tank.
It is not necessary to reveal
the missing lower extremities
or the lifeless nodding
head, charred.

It is enough to show
a shroud
like a newly washed curtain
folded into its own whiteness.
There goes a man,
nameless as the dead.
See how he walks
so very slowly
with the bundle.
Much more pleasing
to the careful eye.

Cut.  Cut.  Cut.

Reality altered
in selected frames
can lead
to complete
calmness.

So if you want blood and gore,
go to your corner
video store.
-o-

Here is a link to the documentary Unseen Gaza