Selected Poems of Love, Liberation and Beauty (2)

George Patterson, US

George Bradford Patterson II is an American expatriate, living in Laur, Nueva Ecija Province, Central Luzon, rural Philippines. He has a Masters Degree in Language Education with a Concentration in Teaching English as a Second Language Education (ESL). Rutgers - The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA May, 1982. He also has a BA in Religion, January, 1974 from Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, including a concentration in Spanish courses. He taught ESL composition, reading skills, grammar, and syntax to non-native speakers in the Writing Program, called also the English Language Enrichment Center, Temple University , Fall Semester, 1982 Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He also was a substitute teacher, teaching ESL and Spanish and English as a bilingual teacher in the Philadelphia public school system from September, 1984 to December, 1984. He also taught EFL/ESL in Korea, China, Honduras, Colombia, and Peru from 1982 to 1993 in universities, colleges, binational centers, and language institutes.
E-mail: borgesmagic@hotmail.com

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My skin swelled to a crimson ball
with a piercing pain.
But Achae poured hydrogen peroxide on it
which ended my misery.
My swelling subsided
and became whitish like the whiteness of a Gandaraj.
I didn’t expect to visit a Buddhist temple
which had prayer flags of a multi-splendoured brightness in yellow, red,
blue, orange, and saffron,
fluttering inside in front of the main altar with the statue
of the golden sitting Buddha
while many cats wandered back and forth.
The silence intensified to a stillness
vibrating hues of mantras—blues of the firmament; violets of sorrow;
emeralds of gardens; roses of tenderness; pinks of compassion; and
scarlets of lyrical love.
They echoed and echoed and echoed little candlelights, glowing
everywhere,
which made me feel serenity upon serenity upon serenity upon serenity
with tapestries and mosaics of quietude, echoing and echoing and
echoing and echoing everywhere to infinities of infinities of infinities.
We met the Buddhist monks
who were adorned with saffron robes
with shaved heads.
We climbed the steps to their private room,
we didn’t expect them to offer a Fanta soda
as they smiled at us with compassion and kindness,
radiating mantras to us and around us
in concentric circles.
Their tranquillity spread a brilliance,

***

spiralling gold and yellow throughout the room
which imbued us with a peacefulness.
I didn’t expect to see Chakma women wearing lungis
and blouses, harvesting rice with their long knives,
and carrying large jute bags of rice on their backs.
I didn’t expect to see a Chakma woman
with a stoic stillness
as she rested on her bed
in her wooden hut
froma cold and fever.

Encyclopedia of questions
I
Is it true that lapiz lazuli contains the gowns of mermaids?
What’s the colour of the bougainvillea which makes love in the
twilight? Isn’t some time better than never?
Why do the flowers of Santiago brag about their love-making?
II
Is it true that the pearl contains the light of angels?
What’s the name of the tree which marries yellow with green? Isn’t
there always tomorrowfor love-making?
What are the dreams of the mango tree?
III
What’s the punitive labour for Bush in purgatory?
Does he draw corpses of collapsed Afghan and Iraqi homes?
Does he touch the ashes and mutilated victims?
Does he see the bloody disfigured faces?
Does he hear the weeping of widows, widowers, and orphans?
Does he feel the pain of the tortured At Abu Ghraib Prison?
IV
Is it true that the sands on White Beach smile?
Why do the blue waves caress me?
Do you know the visions of the stars in the summer?
Do you know the dreams of the muses in the starlight?
V
If all lakes are quiet where do they get their serenity?
Why do the pine trees smile at dawn?
Why does the snowcapped volcano shimmer in the twilight at me?
Why do the eagles fly around the volcano in concentric circles?

Why does the condor gleam and hover over the three volcanos?
If the waterfalls are crystal clear where do they get their eternal wealth?
Why do yellow butterflies dance up and down and back and forth amid
the waterfall? Why does the little black bear dance in front of the waterfall?
Why does theArgentine park ranger smile at the little black bear?
V
Why do the little waterfalls trickle down the dark green forest hillside?
Why do the waterfalls roar at Iguazu Falls?
Why does the rainbow greet the waterfalls?
VI
Is there anybody wilder in this life than George Bradford Patterson?
Who is more romantic than George Bradford Patterson?
In the sky of the Peruvian Andes is there an angel of love?
When do they convene the congress of umbrellas in the Plaza deArmas?
While Pedro Valdivia and FerdinandMagellan were dying
did they bleed the colour of rubies?
When NinoyAquino and SalvadoreAllende died
did they weep waterfalls of purple tears?
VII
And why is the rainbow such a great friend to the whispering wanderer —
and why so mystical over a mountainside?
Is that peasant woman falling in love with me?
Was it just where I died that I was reborn?
Don’t you feel happy when the waves dance?
Don’t you see how the bougainvillas blossom amid the embracing
vines? Don’t you weep surrounded by hearts and endless love-making?
VIII
Why do flame trees show off their scarlet night gowns?
Why do the Ilang Ilang Trees wish to seduce me
with the leafy tendrils of their green and yellow rays?

What’s the name of the flower that makes love to me the whole night?
What did the tree discover from the dancing leaves?
IX
That noble President SalvadorAllendewho claimed he sawthe blue kingdom -
did he find the Promised Land beyond the mountain top?
Who’s the eucalyptus tree teasing with her mint fragrance?
Where does the eagle soar when she glides by the cordillera?
Why did Violeta Parra utter “Thanks to the blessing of life!”
as she sang her scarlet melody to the winds of love and liberty?
X
How far would a jaguar dash if she fell in love?
What do the leaves murmur amid the pouring rain? Do leaves warn us
of the approaching jaguar?
XI
Why do pining white whispers fall serenely
on my fatigued face on Blue Candlelight Road?
Who are the falling whispers on Christmas Eve on this silent night?
Whyis sleepyCandlelightRoad shimmeringwhite dreams in goldenmoonlight?
Why is the old brown barn glistening loneliness and love amid yellowstarlight?
XII
Why do the bougainvilleas weep waterfalls at Hacienda Luisita in the
purple twilight —
and how long will they cry in the sugar
cane fields dripping with blood?
Why do the sampaguitas sigh for the widows at Hacienda Luisita?
Who are the calachuchi swaying swaying for
at Hacienda Luisita among the little blue candlelights?
Why does the old mango tree wail for justice at Hacienda Luisita -
and who does he do it for?
When will the ilang ilang trees of Hacienda Luisita
stop murmuring in the orange moonlight?

Why does the dark green grass of Hacienda Luisita droop,
and why do they glimmer between love and darkness?
Who do they whisper dreams for? To each other? For truth and love in
golden starlight?
XIII
If I am asleep and dreaming my love-dream who’ll wake me up ?
Where does the palm tree get all those coconuts for us?
Why does the lanzon seduce me every evening with her sweet-sour taste?
Please tell me why the bougainvillea undresses herself
or does she wear her evening gown for me?
XIV
Why is Zamboanga the “City of Flowers”?
Why do the flowers of Zamboanga give us flowers of infinite love?
Is the pink rose smiling at me because she wishes to sleep with me?
How long will the bougainvillea caress me with tendrils of sighs?
XV
Why does Viña del Mar glow in the moonlight?
Is Meson con Zeta the restaurant of eternal merry-making
Why is the beach of Reñaca so white?
Did Eva show lust for me with her eyes—and if so, how much did she
desire me?
Is it true that Portenas dance all night with their lovers —
and if so, how much red wine do they
drink while they dance around and around?
XVI
Is the condor the queen of theCordillera and the princess of the blue firmament?
Does the eagle spiral to the mountain of eternal happiness?
Why does Moche Volcano smile serenely at me and exhale silvery white
smoke?Why is Villa Rica Volcano in love with Pucon Volcano?
Why do theAraucanos live in harmony with the holy earth?
Why did theAraucano woman smile kindly at me while she chopped wood?
Why did the threeAraucano horsemen smile their brotherly love to me?
XVII
What are you hiding under the leaves said the fox to the hare?
And the hare asked: What mischief are you making in my wood?
XVIII
Has the blackberry tree more juice than “The Grapes ofWrath”?
Why do the blackberries taste so sweet when they are ripe?

Autumn in the forest
after Boris Pasternak
(to Nina Myers)

Behold the many hot and dreamy days
Delay the dawning of the crimson gold
Although autumn is dazzling always
And her advent will illumine our souls.
From evening tide the mischievous raccoon
Blesses us with a bountiful blue star.
The pine gazes around at evening tune
Gyrates little candlelights against war.
Sleepy air thickens with humidity
But long weeks dance by with forest green eyes
And yet old roads shimmering with fluidity,
Vibrating verdant rhapsodies of goodbyes.
Glittering needles blanket my forest
And caress the hallowed sapphire ground to strum,
Beneath starlight the glistening pond rests
And beams our chiming dreams to blue kingdom;
And our firmament breathes swishing breezes
Upon the curtains of autumn blessing
Adorning her in soaring nakedness,
In a topaz splendour with leaves falling.

Summer in the forest
after Boris Pasternak

I hail the cool and hopeful shining nights
Before the fluorescing forest green glow
And summer will illuminate our sights
And her emerald glitter makes us whole.
Amid crimson twilight sighing dear deer
Caresses us with her glistening care.
Evergreen dances around to cheer
And weeps green dreams to slumbering old bear.
Our air refreshes us with zephyr sweetness
As whispering nights sweep by with gleams
And winding paths shine candescent blessedness,
Illuminating us with wreathes of beams.
The mistymajestic soft maple cries
And strokes the scampering chipmunk to sleep,
Beneath the twinkling young stars, fireflies
Flash their sapphire visions to the keep;
The blue firmament blows scarlet kisses
Upon crimson dresses of summer twilight,
Bejewelling themwith evergreen blouses
Of verdant glory, glistens candlelights.

The vote

What is the Vote?
They use the vote to prevent and limit the taxing of corporations,
companies, multi-national corporations, industrialists, tycoons, robber
barons, freebooters, carpetbaggers, scalawags, and oligarchs.
The Vote! The Vote! The Vote! The Vote!
But nobody cares!
This is the hollow people!
What is the vote?
They use the vote to protect their ill-gotten wealth like the cocoa levy fund
and their illegal acquisition of shares of companies and corporations.
But nobody cares!
This is the hollow people!
What is the vote?
They use the vote to plunder and rape the country. They poison the
marshes, mangroves, rain forests, streams, lakes, ponds, lagoons, rivers,
creeks, seas, waterfalls, rivulets, and oceans in the name of the almighty
peso, dollar, and yen.
The Vote! The Vote! The Vote!
But nobody cares!
This is the hollow people!
What is the vote?
They use the vote to protect their landed estates and haciendas and rob
the farmers their right to own the land they till.
But nobody cares!
This is the hollow people!
What is the vote?
They use the vote in the name of globalization to flood the market with cheap
agricultural products and other commodities which destroy the small
farmers and small businessmen, creating a vast wasteland.
The Vote! The Vote! The Vote! The Vote!
But nobody cares!
This is the hollow people!
What is the vote?
They buy trapos and their votes, spreading the smell of white powder of their
shabu, mingling with the stench of garbage, gutter-filled water, fetid streams,
creeks, and river, and stagnant ponds and lagoons in cities, villages, towns,
and hamlets.
But nobody cares!
This is the hollow people!
What is the vote ?
They use it to protect jueteng and other forms of illegal gambling. The
Vote! The Vote!The Vote! The Vote!
But nobody care
This is the hollow people
What is the vote?
They use it to create endless wars in the name of stability national
security. But where are all the schools, colleges, universities,
cooperatives, hospitals, farms, and fisheries as the wasteland spreads
while rats scurry across shards of dry glass, tingling and tinkling,
cogon grass, and tall weeds, drooping and swaying, amid looming
mango trees and screeching geckos—Gek!Gek! Gek! Gek!—glimmers
of hope surrounded by drifts shimmering large in the moonlight and
spattered with golden stars, twinkling and twinkling and
twinkling, towards the infinity of infinities, the unity of unities, and the
harmony of harmonies amid the throne of Truth and Love where time
and space are one.
But nobody cares!
This is the hollow people!