Definition

after caleb femi

by troy cabida

inuman/tagayan/walwal/lasingan

synonyms:

recreation/challenge/forgiveness/

The kids these days were born here.

They don’t know what it’s like to see

fathers coming home from the evening

not at all their father, the streets

having stolen parts of themselves away

for the morning to bring back slowly -

the first time you ever exercised forgiveness.

When we started drinking, it wasn’t like

how they did it - no beer in Kensington Gardens

during the summer or mixed drinks in bars

you would have been underdressed for.

We waited for our parents to start their night shifts,

brought extra t-shirts and toothbrushes

like we were going to exert labour.

Brought with us sweaty bags of ice,

swollen bottles of coke for the whiskey

in small potent glasses waiting at your friend’s house.

We lost so much brain cells, we’d say later,

wonder what we could have achieved

instead with all that time, but at least

we knew of failure and sweat, how to work

and speak English during a hangover.

What it was like to be on the edge of ourselves.