Paradise Awaits

By:  Garland Davis

 

The inbound stretch

Of Grande Island to starboard,

Paradise awaits.

Across the bridge and downtown,

Base rules and bar district,

Are connected, yet separated,

By the expanse

Of the bridge over Shit River.

 

Of course, an outlying neighborhood.

Of Barrio Barretto

As well as Subic City beckon,

Both are in reach by,

The garishly decorated Jeepneys,

With stops along the way

For refreshment.

 

What does this road

And its history

Say about us –

Our hopes and desires –

Is, perhaps, the work

Of the storytellers and poets

Who’ll tell our story in words and prose

Still-

 

For storytellers and poets

Can only tell the truth

Of events and images created by words-

That are elusive and shifting

Like the shadow of the day and night before

Of the songs and the drinks and the girl

Who made it special

The sound of the Jeepney

Rising

At dawn’s half-light.