a room for visiting hours
exquisite corpse
For that morning was the morning
of the Equinox of Spring.
When life, in defiance of all odds, stirs again,
growing, bursting, flowering,
everywhere around us.
-Erwin Castillo, Dr. Erle Singson Castillo: In Memoriam
Father told me that you want
to be buried, not burned, beside
the remains of Lolo and Lola.
As you share the same soil,
the ground becomes
you, fragments
of the earth. Seeds of
flesh and bones, welcoming
water. Your veins take root,
and with your flesh, the ground
will no longer be barren.
I comb the swards, as if
they are your locks.
When spring comes you
will cover the ground
with flowers and more
leaves than usual.
Then, I can say that
you were never gone.
I’ll never run out of
blossoms to pick.