Simon Anton Nino Diego Baena- 3 Poems

Skyway

Their metropolis is bruised, flat,

distant, grey— here,

where the sky needs 

no birds, you see 

the entire landscape

of steel and glass heavy

with the digital pulse of crimes.

And you submit to its rhythm

of nihilism; you drown

yourself in its noise, becoming

one of its fragments,

in order for it to breathe.

Interlude

In the empty space 

here 

between 

your breath 

and the crucifix

there is only 

the sound 

of the creaking 

door swinging  

to and fro

like a rusty pendulum

of the antique clock

as you remain 

drunk 

with your own 

ash

Drought

The stone cathedral closes its door 

after dusk, but you keep 

on knocking, hoping 

that it might open 

and fill the absence

of a god in a child's quest 

for permanence:

a sun that never sets 

for his father

to live again.  

 

—Simon Anton Nino Diego Baena
Some of his works have already been published in Red River Review, The Philippines Free Press, Philippines Graphic magazine, Eastlit, Dagmay, and Kabisdak