bayot
the pig’s blood / boils on tita’s stove
vinegar steams the ceiling wet / with typhoon
I hold the brown / in my mama’s elbows
as we stir the pot / of black intestines
sauce dances & cooks / the American
out of my stomach / until my mouth returns home
cha-cha as we roll / sliced vegetables into
rice paper / tita, teach me how to turn
again? / see how my body dances
with women / how the Ocean returns
to my hips / when warm breasts
guide my heavy / tongue
kay nakakatapon ito hira
stay away / from the gays, iday
they are contagious
tonight / I grip lola’s rosary
tight in my palm / let the Tanauan
tsimosas chant bayot / bakla
claim the sour / sweat of my cum
a holy awakening / to a gold-toothed
crucifix / my weeping crescent moon
screams for a past lover’s mouth / until
mama drags my pale / into sea
& the ghosts hold my queer /
while I float in their grave.