Hay(na)ku in the Time of COVID-19
By Rebecca Mabanglo-Mayor
Here are some photos of the miniature book sized 1-7/8" x 2.25"
The following presents all of the poems in the book--we thank Rebecca Mabanglo-Mayor for sharing them with us:
Last Words
What
words can
capture spring rains,
gently swaying branches,
when the
heart
yearns
for routines
that can never
be redeemed or
futures already
abandoned?
Forthcoming in Alone Together: Love, Grief, and Comfort in the Time of COVID-19,
Jennifer Haupt, ed. (Central Avenue Publishing, Sept. 2020)
Allergies
Sloppy wet drops
jostle pollen
from
trees
and into
my itchy eyes.
Grocery Run
Without
a list,
it is difficult
to remember every
item needed.
There’s
no
telling, though,
when another trip
could safely yield
the missing
goods.
a list,
it is difficult
to remember every
item needed.
There’s
no
telling, though,
when another trip
could safely yield
the missing
goods.
Exhalation
Sunlit
blossoms nod
their heads to
the beat of
Spring’s bluesy
jazz.
Distancing
Time
folds in
on itself muffling
perception like a
homemade fabric
mask.
Sidewalk Dance
Purple
phlox in
full bloom rock
to rhythms set
by spring
breezes
while
daring squirrels
steal food left
for nesting crows
who caw
distress.
Pandemic Remark
Ordinary
people will
die. Ordinary people
survive. Ordinary people
won’t know
why.
Rhodys
Peach-pink
blooms delight
my eyes but
itch my nose
in futile
protest.
Garden Venus
The squirrel perched
on her
concrete
head
but she
didn’t mind his
paws. In fact,
she seemed
amused
by
his energetic
and frenetic antics.
Glad Return
I’d
forgotten about
bumblebee butts, charming
as they are,
until I
heard
buzzing
near my
rhody and saw
the drunken pompom
busily gathering
pollen.
Harmony
Cooperation
begins with
knowing our survival
is assured when
resources are
shared,
freely
when we
look at each
other without fear,
prejudice or
animosity.
Chores
Clearing
winter from
the window corners,
like dusty cobwebs,
brings Spring
inside.
Celebrations
Sun-splashed
leaves. Lawn
mowers buzzing while
children master their
bicycle skills
nearby.
Gardeners
tote tools,
push wheelbarrows full
of clippings, seed
starts, and
optimism.
His
coffee cools
beside mine as
my computer hums,
chimes near
his.
Simple Hope
Planting
dahlias in
Spring sunshine while
Roxii sniffs primroses
between her
paws.
Planting
dahlias in
Spring sunshine while
Roxii sniffs primroses
between her
paws.
Saturday Nap
Sleeping
during daylight
hours requires dark
curtains, a soft
pillow and
exhaustion.
Strangely
social distancing
provides the necessary
psychic weariness and
physical idleness
needed.
Fence Line
Crows
patrol like
faithful soldiers maintaining
order while squirrels
scamper past
chaotically.
Crows
patrol like
faithful soldiers maintaining
order while squirrels
scamper past
chaotically.
Writer's Block
Bees
search unopened
buds for sweetness
like I search
for vibrant
words.
Bees
search unopened
buds for sweetness
like I search
for vibrant
words.
Torn
In
the waiting,
I wonder whether
freedom will come
all at
once
or
piecemeal like
quilted tapestries stitched
with ragged memories
of life
before.
In
the waiting,
I wonder whether
freedom will come
all at
once
or
piecemeal like
quilted tapestries stitched
with ragged memories
of life
before.
Change
Decrepit
thoughts give
way to discoveries
like spring-soaked
loam to
sprouts.
thoughts give
way to discoveries
like spring-soaked
loam to
sprouts.
Fruitless
Is
it really
procrastination to scroll,
scroll, scroll over
and over
if
you
can’t get
past the deep
self-doubt you feel
surrounding you
inside?
Exhaustion
Slate
grey sky,
flat and featureless,
covers my sights
of sunnier
futures.
Dense
and unmoving,
I struggle to
feel a breeze
that brings
relief.
Philosophers’ Conundrum
Of all the
futures that
never
were,
I wonder,
which past moments
have already become
this present
instant?
Or
are they
always already here?
Hopefulness
Words
spill like
spring rain drenching
the parched earth
of my
manuscript.
Characters
speak, move,
learn, worry, decide,
depending on my
strange narrative
flow.
Helplessness
Stark
white linoleum
bounced the pings
and buzzes from
dozens of
monitors
along
the emergency
wing where he
stood waiting, waiting
waiting for
word
about
not one
but two loved
ones struck down
in one
afternoon.
Materia Magica
Waves
strike the
lip of my
bottle, filling it
with water
pushed
by
high tide,
gathered as a
blessing in this
time of
uncertainty.
Error 404: Cataloger’s Lament
Data
may be
just a series
of ones and
zeroes, but
if
those
bits don’t
line up into
bytes then the
data is
useless.
Palimpsest
Life
isn’t scripted
like a movie
but lived moment
by moment
despite
uncertainties
that diminish,
transform, shift, and
illuminate the tangible
qualities of
existence.
Lost
Somehow,
in the
bustle of Sunday,
between chores and
shopping for
cereal,
I
forgot to
jot down these
words or lost
them while
cleaning.
Fortified
Sardines and rice,
my mother’s
comfort
food,
once eaten
in secret, shame,
at home, where
offended noses
would
not
lift haughtily
because the smell
was beneath them.
Salted tomatoes
complete
my
delight here
where love surrounds.
Editing
One
word, where
six once were,
declares itself victorious
in its
brevity.
One
word, where
six once were,
declares itself victorious
in its
brevity.
Meggie O'Niell
Ghosts
given Kindness
find their homes.
Henry Stack
Crow feathers protect
blind men's
dreams.
Ghosts
given Kindness
find their homes.
Henry Stack
Crow feathers protect
blind men's
dreams.
Six
Six-
feet distant
is not enough
to keep your
cold neglect
away.
Rebecca Mabanglo-Mayor’s non-fiction, poetry, and short fiction have appeared in print and online in several journals and anthologies including Katipunan Literary Magazine, Growing Up Filipino II: More Stories for Young Adults, Kuwento: Small Things, and Beyond Lumpia, Pansit, and Seven Manangs Wild: An Anthology. Her poetry chapbook Pause Mid-Flight was released in 2010. She is also the co-editor of True Stories: The Narrative Project Vol. I and II, and her poetry and essays were collected in Dancing Between Bamboo Poles in 2019.
