O Bright Moon

Ilocanos say, Saan nga maymaysa
iti aldaw— Today is not

the only day. It might be hard
to see how this is true, given that

we find ourselves in this room  
and can only see the long hallway 

and other rooms we passed on the way
here. What a jumble of furniture,

what a labyrinth of curtains,
what a chaos of love and water and

salt painted on the walls. O naraniag 
a bulan, Un-unnoyko indengam the lover sings 

in serenade to the moon. It floats, seemingly 
remote, a silver coin in the atmosphere 

above all the petty currency of our lives.  
It's been an age since I heard these lyrics—

Toy nasipnget a lubongko/ Inka kad silawan
Tapno diak mayyaw-awan— a prayer for some

brilliance to spill into this dark,
something to point the way onward or out.