Being Here, Now.

[Tropical Storm Washi/Sendong hit the Philippines on December 16, 2011 killing more than a thousand in its wake.]

an innocent prelude –

indiscriminating rain falling

on shoulders, heads, toes, spirits.

angering stream and river gods,

death wearing dark cloak of water,

floods, broiling torrents.

we prayed to forces, chances,

and unseen anitos

lying on piles of dried bones.

how inconsistent the force of this creation

how both terrifyingly beautiful and gruesome

the roiling of waves and mud carrying

logs, debris, fathers, mothers,

sisters and brothers embraced

in the sinister cloak of death.