Faces of War

By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo

AT least 17 poets will be reading poems during the “Summer Solstice Poetry Reading” in celebration of the summer solstice dedicated to ending war and fostering peace to be held worldwide, simultaneously in at least 30 countries. The poetry reading in the Philippines will be held on Friday, 21 June 2019 at the Coconut House, Quezon Memorial Circle, Quezon City, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

The project also aims to forge future collaboration among the participating poets and artists on viable initiatives that can be implemented locally, such as the Interfaith Dialogue Program, exploring poetry and other cultural means to foster understanding and friendship among a cross-section of religious beliefs and ethnicity. Three organizations have collaborated on this project: World Festival of Poetry (WFP), Women in Development Foundation (WIDF) and International Visitor Leadership Program-Philippines (IVLP-Philippines).

Some of the poets who have confirmed are as follows: Anisha Guro, Bong de la Torre, Calle Manu, Carlos Tabunda, Jr., Ceri Naz, De Vincent Miles, Elizabeth Esguerra Castillo, Farah Decano, Fe Mangahas, Julia Senga, June Cañada, Lyn Gaerlan, Maria Jasmin Maramag, Mario Ignacio Miclat, Ruth Elynia Mabanglo, Santiago Villafania and myself.

I will be reading “Faces of War”, a cluster of poems I wrote in 2018, published in an anthology entitled, “Palestine: A Conscious Poetic Offering” by the Inner Child Press, which I dedicated to the children of Palestine.

1) Girl Interrupted

in her face, a map/ a country with deep scars/ scattered freckles/ open wounds of acne / bursting, still unripe/ for harvest.

2) Scavenger

his eyes spoke of hunger/ his, and his little brothers/ hands clasped behind his back/ begging, desperately looking/ for food, for my soul.

3) Red

a man in uniform, in olive green/ takes her hand to shore/ her lips quiver, her body shivers/

she remembers a color, her mother’s/ and so many others, dressed in red/ kissing the floor.

4) Paper Boats

lives of children reduced to ink/ read, shared with children at play/ folded into paper boats to sail/ in a flowing stream of dreams/ capsizing, in the madness/ of the water.

5) Paper Planes

paper planes fly with a lone bird/ above shelters without roofs/ stripped of bones/ that used to walk/ in baby steps.

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