Bonsai by Edith Tiempo
Bonsai
Edith TiempoAll that I love
I fold over once
And once again
And keep in a box
Or a slit in a hollow post
Or in my shoe.All that I love?
Why, yes, but for the moment-
And for all time, both.
Something that folds and keeps easy,
Son’s note or Dad’s one gaudy tie,
A roto picture of a queen,
A blue Indian shawl, even
A money bill.It’s utter sublimation,
A feat, this heart’s control
Moment to moment
To scale all love down
To a cupped hand’s sizeTill seashells are broken pieces
From God’s own bright teeth,
And life and love are real
Things you can run and
Breathless hand over
To the merest child.
MARGINALIA
All that I love were with me tonight. Well, maybe not all, because that would mean the world. But it was enough. And it was a moment I can relive for always. Do you know the feeling of being swept away? Of just losing yourself completely, just for a moment, or for all time, or both? That’s how it was. And it was the perfect way to end my birthday month, and it was just fitting, to be standing in that room, filled with strangers and friends, of people I’ll never see again and music that will be with me forever.
So, here, a poem for celebrating.
ABOUT EDITH TIEMPO
Edith Lopez Tiempo was a Filipino poet, short story writer, literary critic, novelist, and teacher. She was born on April 22, 1919 in San Nicholas, Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya. She was conferred a National Artist for Literature in 1999. In 1988, she and her husband received the Gawad Pambansang Alagad ni Balagtas (UMPIL Award/Balagtas Bicentennial National Achievement Literary Award). Tiempo has also won the Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Poetry and the Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for… (more)
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ENDNOTES
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ON THIS DAY
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gaviola, riel jean
NICE ONE..
mirek ferrer
its a very interesting poem…especially to our literature…this is one of the most amazing piece of her life’s work…also one of the topics in our Phil. Lit. subject… ^_^
govindarajulu - Kasturi
Wonderful Poem
Good Luck
Thanks
Kasturi G
paradero, pinky a.
a very nice poem that I ever read…..how to be a good writer?
Clave Carl Pikilan
Nice
Prince Walter Tuliao IV
A Very Nice Poem Ma’am Edith Tiempo
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jingke
thank you for this poem Maam Edith
Aenielle Legaspina
Wonderfully written poem, thank you for this masterpiece Ms. Tiempo
Rachel Wells Ackerman
WOW loved the end, so true. Thank you for this masterpiece.
Arabella
Amazing poem brought me almost to tears