A SHORT POEM FOR JOSHUA

(My eldest son Raul Joshua was born on July 17, 1999)


I thought of gifting you kites
on your birthday. Three kites—
small, medium, large.

All in red—the color of love.
But it seems kites are unfit
For you are still three:

Lilliputian yet to hold the cords.
So what must I give you?
Paper boats with matching tag

M/V Happy Birthday my son?
Color or animal charts, Nintendo
or a small mountain bike?

I am undecided yet, Joshua.


(Note: This poem is part of my first poetry collection, A DAY IN A POET'S LIFE AND OTHER POEMS, published by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts through its Ubod: New Authors Series)