Corps de Ballet
Caught in the magic
Haze of light,
In all-waving
Plumes of green,
Airy ballerinas whirl
In the misty sheen.
Forever flitting
And ever flirting
To never-ending roulades
of motion and music;
Floating in spirals
To arabesques of birdsong!
Fairy ballerinas,
All artistry entrapped
In their graceful arcs
Of twirls and turns
To pirouettes of windsong!
Fluttery dancers,
Regal in pas de deux,
A-tip-toe on air
Orange blossom-scented air!
Fluidity and grace
All melting into one.
Falls the night's
Final curtain
On the sun drenched
Stage of day;
From eternity's brink,
Fall shimmering stars
To drench
A happiness crying
At the fading away
Of dancing bamboo leaves!
(This poem was published in the magazine
Philippine Graphic winning a free year's
subscription and later on, in the anthology
of poems book published in the United States.)
Oriental Madonna
Sonnet To A Philippine Urn
Wanderer's Song
Corps De Ballet
Summer Idyl
Fourteen
Maid Of Mabanglu
Faceless Valentine
Why?
First Love
Lost Love
Morning At Laguna De Bay
Night of the Aswang
Ferris Wheel
Intrusion
Telephone Conversation
Ing Balen Cung Bamban
The Sibal Family History In the nineteenth century, in the southern tip of Tarlac province in Luzon, Philippines, a dozen siblings came from the province of Pampanga and founded the town of Bamban.The siblings were surnamed Sibal and consisted of eleven brothers and one sister who married a Maristela man. The Sibal brothers called this place Bamban because of the smooth, thornless bamboo that grew in large clumps and the name of this bamboo is “bamban.” The place was very fertile for fields of rice and sugar cane and all kinds of fruit trees. It was very near the foothills of the large chain of Sierra madre mountains where abound hardwood trees of narra, lauan, wild animals such as deer, wild boars and all kinds of flora and fauna. The mountains were on the western side of Bamban, while on the southern side ran a river that teemed with fish. On the banks of this river called Parua, there were stones and sparkling sand brought by the current. The bank of the river was a forest full of pine trees (Pinus insularis) and the wind whistled its song through their boughs. At that time, Bamban was a veritable paradise. more>>
