BY RODRIGO DELA PEÑA JR.
but admit that you still wanted it: life,
the world opening to an explosion
of light, your amniotic mouth saying yes,
your hunger a beacon for your mother’s
breast, the milk itself a form of yes,
each drop becoming part of your flesh,
your hummingbird heart, fontanel, each
part of you a yes, bones growing, fusing
into a single yes, as lines form to make
a poem, your skin conversing with someone’s
skin, tongue, a voice repeating yes, how else
will you admit this want, this life you never
asked for, what other choice did you have but
to say yes, language as explosion
of what might be said, as you open your lips
and begin a breath with one syllable, yes—
This poem is part of dela Peña’s collection “Self-Portrait with Plastic Bag,” which won first prize in the poetry in English category in the 68th Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature.
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