night gin - luis cabalquinto Night Gin
From "Moon Over Magarao: New & Selected Poems"
by Luis Cabalquinto

they speak of the recent palay
harvest, which was very poor,
after a typhoon;
they speak softly, half-listening
to the wind outside Sofronio's hut,
as night deepened slowly;
they say the months ahead
again will not be easy,
but tonight there is joy and comfort
in the company of a kinsman
newly returned from abroad;
in the small shot glass we pass,
clockwise, from one man's lips
to the next, the stories and laughter
we share; and I, listening, drinking gin,
watching their faces in the orange light
of a kerosene-fed wick lamp
from across the bare bamboo table,
think of the world's sharp counterpoints:
how, tonight for instance, my other kin
in New York will be yelling for Nureyev
to answer his 24th curtain call at the Met.   ¶ 6/11/2004 05:34:00 PM