tonight, we sleep at the cemetery.
bring chicherias, fresh pandesal, and lolo’s Red Horse
beer to the headstones. a ceremony of dancing
with ghosts. of burned wax staining cement coffins.
we unearth our mouths, our favorite tagalog
love songs be a prayer beneath bintana.
i am the 4 year old child of a white
man’s mouth. walking into my mother’s
ocean for the first time. the sound of
sakayan engines. calloused fishnet hands.
dig my ears into water. mama teaches me to pray
to my ancestors. I list each spirit’s name
I can remember. even tita marie olga. chant,
until the red ants swallow our legs whole.