HARVEST

 HARVEST

Spring-Summer Eternity

Starfruits, Kiwis, Very Berries, Guavas, Passionfruits, Ginger Roots / All in my Coconut Milk Drinks at the Café / Pizzas, Dried Seaweed Snacks, Ice Teas, Vanilla (or Chocolate) Ice Cream / At the Licorice Suburban Corner Store / Façade grey metal chairs and tables / A view of Williams Road (and Number Three Road) / Vietnamese and Japanese eateries / All my favourite haunts on Lulu Isle / Far, faraway, eternal Bougainvilleas, Hibiscuses, and Baobabs

—Viktor Nonong Medrano (2020-08-24)

Native Man

Wizard of Oz / Grey Canuck Duck / Handwoven baskets / Sacred rock formations / Serendipitous titillations / Native relative / Nature informative / Ceramic jugs / Exquisite rugs

—Viktor Nonong Medrano (2020-08-24)

Bingkéng

“Bingkéng” ang gustó niyáng tawag sa akin. / May barkadang panáy ang damó. / Sa usok ang damdamin. / Pinóy lahát tayo; alám mo? / Mas gustó ko ang pagkain.

—Viktor Nonong Medrano (2020-08-24)

Kokosujoj al Abioj

Kokosujoj laŭ la strand’ / Al glaŭkaj abioj laŭ la strat’ / Bananoj al pomoj / Tropiklando al neĝolando / La Senŝanĝanta Maro

—Viktor Nonong Medrano (2020-08-23)

Cadillacs and Miata

Others’ bodies like Cadillacs / Mine like a Miata / Colourful jackets on racks / Gnawing on a ciabatta / Bratwursts in sacks

—Viktor Nonong Medrano (2020-08-23)

Vraka Strando

ĉe la Vraka Strand’ / vestaĵ-laŭvola ludant’: / indianeske

—Viktor Nonong Medrano (2020-06-11)

Gazebo and Swing

Near the faraway jungle houses / was a quaint jungle gazebo / where there had crept a jungle snake. / A cozy canopy glider swing / was in the flipping garden. / Beyond were gratiles berries clinging. / Not at all was the family compound barren.

—Viktor Nonong Medrano (2020-06-09)

Balloon Vines

Creeping balloon vines / outside urban apartment: / Yeah Filipiña!

—Viktor Nonong Medrano (2020-06-09)

Temples and Josses

Stubborn urusai crowds / Blue sky and white clouds / Joss sticks in front of Josses / Chopsticks in a rice bowl of Pork Chops / Flips in an inflatable kiddie pool / “You want to join us?” says the school / A crowd of teens with 1970’s hairdos / In a corner store of clerks not just Hindus / A walk to the green grove temples / Down south on Number Three Road / Iced Apple Green Tea with Bubbles / Phonograms with Logograms like cryptic code / At night, the wondrous full moon showed

—Viktor Nonong Medrano (2020-06-09)

One Head-shaven, One Black-haired

One Head-shaven, One Black-haired / Big bulging white man / Looks part-Amerind / Fancies an Eastern lady / Drives a green car shared / Another one handsome / Reminiscent of tamarind / Both seeing a wild shaman / Under massive trees shady

—Viktor Nonong Medrano (2020-06-08)

Blond and Squid

In Stockholm and Helsinki / Looking for hairy blond men / Grey ice cream squid-inky / Isla Lulu Tagalog practice, amen

—Viktor Nonong Medrano (2020-06-08)

Red Savannah

big red savannah / around the Spanish mansion: / whirlwind near a cliff

—Viktor Nonong Medrano (2020-06-05)

Chlorine

Labyrinth and like Amerind / Sushi rolls not so choosy / Swimming pool and jacuzzi / Plasticky chlorine smells / Saunas and mighty bells

—Viktor Nonong Medrano (2020-06-05)

Silly Rabbits

Hi, silly rabbits! / You have white, brown, and black fur / on your fat bodies.

—Viktor Nonong Medrano (2020-06-04)

A Crow Flies

a crow flies towards / yonder coniferous tree: / unraining grey skies

—Viktor Nonong Medrano (2020-06-04)

Blue Rose Garden

big blue rose garden / around the Spanish mansion: / smell of new bark mulch

—Viktor Nonong Medrano (2020-06-04)

Red, Orange, Yellow

Red, Orange, Yellow / Summer Thai temple days mellow / Sweet Duck on East Hastings Street Menus / Philosophical nighttime venues / After speculative fiction movies / Born in the time of being groovy / We the Japanesque marshmallows

—Viktor Nonong Medrano (2020-06-03)

Lychee in Syrup on Ice

Lychee in Syrup on Ice / Not everyone in East Van eats rice/ Back in Tōkyō are Rāmen-Ya / Offices like temples of Maya / Isla Lulu platter-sized hamburgers / Kitsilano condo boiled cauliflowers

—Viktor Nonong Medrano (2020-06-03)

Childhood Number 5

Illuminares Lantern Festival / Trout Lake and snowcapped mountains / Vintage books and clothes / East Van character homes / Where people are not drones / Cafés and chow mein are a carnival / Esperanto meetings no rival / Downtown and Gastown excursions / Holistic Europe-Asia confusions

—Viktor Nonong Medrano (2020-06-03)

Swedish Furniture and Hot Chocolate

Never had Rose Hip Soup / Tasted an IKEA Almond Cake / Sitting at the handsome dock / Faraway Lake Sammamish gawk / Coconut Milk Hot Chocolate Grande / Lulu Island Flatlander break / Every day like a Chinese Donut Tuesday

—Viktor Nonong Medrano (2020-06-03)

Cooked Bamboo Shoots

Cooked Bamboo Shoots / A Korean Picasso / Forever green Esperanto / Never been to Toronto / A tree with contorted roots / A fine marbled teraso / Vietnamese calligraphy / Imaginary geography / A basket of fruits

—Viktor Nonong Medrano (2020-06-02)

Mugicha and Pizza

Cold Mugicha (or Barley Tea) / And Pizza Slice (or Mini Pan Pizza) / At the corner convenience store / In the Pandemic Genie Folklore / Flashbacks of Harajuku (and Ginza) / Now back here in the Big North / Glee and Sorrow gushing forth

—Viktor Nonong Medrano (2020-06-01)

Black Tea Latte

Black Tea Latte / With Coconut Milk / From the corner Café / My tuque not of Silk / A walk in the green grove / Where crows and seagulls rove / A venerable verdant temple / Life not being so simple / A stray newspaper with a ripple

—Viktor Nonong Medrano (2020-05-31)