just readin' naa_tiv's poem makes me wish that there were more poetry readings going on here on my campus...makes me wanna read somethin..and it goes like this...<P>VOICES IN MY HEAD<BR>There are times when I hear voices.<BR>My mom yelling at my sister and me.<BR>Two years apart.<BR>"Bumaba kayo!!!"<BR>Downstairs.<BR>We stand at attention.<BR>Someone has done something.<P>Broken a dish.<BR>Bathroom not clean.<BR>"Who’s job is this?"<BR>We don’t know.<BR>Nobody knows.<BR>Trouble for everybody.<BR>The tsinelas comes out.<BR>We start to speak.<BR>The Pilipino flip-flop<BR>Has brought out an answer.<BR>It was me. I did it.<P>"Don’t you see that marumi pa?"<BR>I don’t know. Shrug. Cringe.<BR>The tsinelas retreats.<BR>Her face falls from anger to frustration.<BR>"Ewan ko ba, I give up."<BR>I freeze up, feeling the guilt of what I had done.<BR>A million apologies in my head.<P>Discipline wasn’t the only conversation.<BR>"I love you pani."<BR>I love you too Mom.<BR>I love you too Dad.<BR>"Our favorite first daughter."<BR>The only ‘first’ daughter.<BR>We are moved to tears.<BR>The truck backs away.<BR>I am alone.<P>The room stirs again.<BR>Another voice speaks.<BR>"Back in Agusan there was once this lady...un sama ni."<BR>Mommy. Our lola.<BR>Mom’s mom.<BR>Stories of manananggals.<BR>Aswangs.<BR>The jungle teems with ghosts.<BR>The past is in my blood.<BR>I am there. Sometimes.<BR>I hear it even now.<BR>Singing old songs. All the greatest hits.<BR>The bug light zaps a mosquito.<BR>The power goes out.<BR>I sit still. Eyes closed.<BR>Typing away. Remembering.<P>Apo’s house.<BR>Dad’s mom.<BR>Her kitchen bustles.<BR>Family congregation.<BR>"Do you want some more???"<BR>Speaking only Capampangan.<BR>No Apo, I don’t want any- oh well,<BR>Okay I’ll eat more.<BR>The food lands before I can resist.<BR>Pilipino food. The real kind.<BR>My stomach rumbles.<BR>I am alone.<BR>No time to cook now.<BR>It’s not the same.<P>My eyes are open now.<BR>I am here in my room.<BR>College girl.<BR>Daughter. Granddaughter.<BR>Generations.<BR>The past stays near me.<BR>Like whispers in the night.<BR>Unleash them through me during the day,<BR>As the voices in my head continue to speak.<P><P>___________________________<BR>got soy milk?<BR><a href="http://surf.to/parchmentpaper" target="_blank">http://surf.to/parchmentpaper<;/a><BR>"uggh..nananana...turn that sh*t off!"