Perched on an imaginary slope
is a city surrounded by high rise building and stinking shanties
a city trying
to mimic
a style vogue in Prague
The exigencies of landscape,
climate and life in Manila
had forced an artificial change
and the result was an unfortunate hodgepodge
At the rear of the patio
springing up like mushrooms,
were various lives inhibiting the multitude
window less apartments
with swinging worn-out doors
I can’t help but to let out a deep sigh…
Sitting so long at the window
watching the turbulent waves
counting passerby’s
imagining the unfathomable depths of the sea
Sometimes I wonder
how the sea washes up the exposed sand
(Is there a chance that the sea can wash
away the filth of the city?)
how it creates a sepulchral silence
as it roared back in a single wave
sweeping away everything
Then reality unfolds
I can smell the foul putrid air that surrounds me.