Somewhere in Plummer’s Hollow,
a man sits clipping his nails
this morning. There
is snowfall, light as down.
Much further east, uncommon frost
recedes into the hills of Atok, Benguet,
studding the heads of cabbages,
stalks of wild grass, flowers.
Wasn’t it there
conquistadors sought
the fabled orange tree that flew or fell
from El Dorado? Under the earth
are jars of ore and silver.
Little flotillas of creased paper
go down the creek. Sometimes
it seems the past might never
have happened. But even here
the ends of threads are gathered;
the lines on the horizon draw
this world into the other one.
And back and forth the shuttle goes.
—Luisa A. Igloria
01.07.2011
In response to today’s Morning Porch entry. Atok, Benguet is a mountainous municipality in western Luzon northeast of Baguio City, where Luisa grew up. Due to the elevation, occasional frosts occur, with devastating effects on vegetable growers.
Luisa’s poems are incredibly lovely – I feel as though I am reading in Spanish – without the struggle of translation. I hope you/she publish this marvelous dialogue in hard copy. Wishing you both a
Happy and Creative New Year!
Thanks, Patricia! So glad you’re enjoying the series.
Thank you for your kind words, Patricia. I’m just grateful that the poems come! Happy New Year to you too.
*
On the reference to Atok — My eldest daughter alerted me to some of the photos that Baguio photographer Ompong Tan took on Jan 06 2011, of frost-covered produce and fields– according to friends in the Baguio-Benguet area, there have been record lows in temperature, such as have never really been seen before.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=481772776595&set=a.481772551595.264514.669741595