i lay the foundation here / of carapace and body in june / i collapsed towards you in memory / dreamt the poor like a wave / said the wounded soldiers desecrated the canals of manila / saw the blood passed down from generation to generation / watched my countrymen live in coffins and sell fragranced faith / did not know when my older lived and died or if they had even lievd / do not remember the words spoken to me when i was young but survive / learn how to hang clothespin and bodies / spend novembers in cemeteries come to catholic school smelling like incense, fresh grass, and the moon / listen to widows sing / tell you this too is apostolic / forgive the centuries we spent in the waterways / forgive the children who swim in the bay still drenched of bone and mistakes of the past / scrub my leg til the blisters burst / hear singsong melody / let gravity unfold cloth as it do our bodies / wake the women up from their slumber / let them know the children will forever be dying