Works of paolo manalo poems

Paolo Manalo is a Filipino poet who teaches at the College of Arts and Letters, University of the Philippines. For a time he served as the literary editor of the Philippines Free Press. Jolography, his first book of poems, which received the 1st prize in poetry from the Palanca Awards and the U.P. Gawad Chancellor Para sa Natatanging Likha ng Sining (Outstanding Literary Work). He also earned his Ph.D. creative writing at the University of St Andrews.

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Bumebenjonson: Hey Lady

I could have been your lover and you know it,
Mama always said that I’m handsome
And talented, a dream come… (wait for it)
True: your better lover and much better poet.
Too fast for you, so I’ll slow it
Down. Too cold for you? So how come
You’re sweat. If you’re halaman I’m a green thumb
If you’re gulaman, I’m sago. Then you can straw it.
If you say yes, then go; if no, then aray.
I don’t take rejection well; but just for you I’ll try.

Meet Cute

I was in the corner of the café minding my own
Business, when the idiom turned funny on me
And I couldn’t use it anymore. Really, I didn’t mind.
This is me pretending to work but all I want
Is to be someone’s felt tip marker for the day
When suddenly you walk up to me with the line
“Is this seat taken?” Except there is no seat;
This is a standing café.
“Of course it isn’t
Taken. Are you? That last part I didn’t mean
To say out loud.
“No one’s ever asked me that.
Of course I’m not a seat. What are your thoughts
On collateral damage in the war against drugs?”
“What?”
“Some people skip the foreplay
And proceed to the sex, I like skipping the small
Talk and get down to serious…”
“Concerns?”
“What?”
“You can’t say the B-word.”
“No, but may I
Sip the rest of your coffee if you’re not havin

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