The SWAMP REVIEW
Lover á la Mother
by Galilee Marcos
Lover curls up in the fetal position,
tells me he wants to go
back inside. The womb
could’ve been hell
compared to this
but burns just felt
like warmth. My hand
hovers over him, the space
between bodies is the skin
of a mother’s stomach. His mother
didn’t name him until
she saw him.
I long for him
to feel what I’m trying
to give him. Maybe I’ll find
the words to describe it when
I see him.
I, Who Is Not Bound By Gravity
by Galilee Marcos
Newton says as long as my feet
feel the softness of grass,
I am doomed to stay.
Gravity touches me,
birth to death, pulls me down
when I want to fly.
I flew when I was a kid,
with my hip bone supported
by my dad’s strong hands.
I dipped my hand
into the sky and felt
the pillowy clouds.
I used to jump
as if the kinetic energy
could pull me away
from the pavement.
The impact came anyway,
scarring the soft skin of my youth.
Now my lawn
is covered in parched
tan. Old man’s hands
with cracking skin,
skin darker than the rest
of my body.
But I still
embrace the sky
and feel the pavement’s softness
and trace the dark stars on my knees
and try
to fly.
Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway (TPLEX)
by Galilee Marcos
Believers exit at the minor basilica,
praying that they reach heaven.
Pavement cuts through flooded rice paddies.
A lone tree drips with the morning mist of Pangasinan.
I’m travelling 100 kilometers per hour,
62 miles in my head.
Father says heaven is home.
The road runs from Tarlac to La Union.
I’ve seen this haze before in a dream
or a memory.
I exit TPLEX
to heaven.
Note: The Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway is an expressway in the Philippines that connects the provinces of Tarlac, Pangasinan, and La Union.