If you happen to visit one day

The islands of far, fair Filipinas

Take a trek if you would

To the Mountain Province

Up north, through the devastation

Of Mount Pinatubo, world class volcano

On the central plains of Luzon.

Head zigzag straight for Baguio,

Famed city of crystals and pines

Where the temperature drops as low

As the evenings of a London autumn

Or shoots as high as the days of an English spring,

Where the locals have the strongest walking legs,

Kids the pinkest cheeks from fresh mountain air.

Across Burnham Park, pond, bike lanes, promenade

Walk up and along the crowded overpass

(Mind, don't step on a blind beggar or two)

To the low-ceilinged packed palengke,

The famed covered market,

Where the strawberries are

Juicier than those served at Wimbledon,

And purple cabbage abounds

With apples found all year round.

But there, do not stop.

Carry on walking past shops of jam,

Tambo and tingting brooms,

Wooden carvings, cheap rainbow pullovers.

Ignore the gaudy trinkets

Obviously imported by some

Enterprising expatriate from the souks

Of Dammam, Abu Dhabi or Bahrain.

Under the 3rd overpass you will note

On the sidewalk sprawled

With their woven rattan-baskets

The withered crones of the mountains,

With glass bead necklaces of varied hues

Head decors of red, black, yellow, blues

In wraps of Igorot tribal clothing

Good for shawl or g-string,

Chewing betel nuts with something red

Or is that only their tongues?

Come closer and ask

what they would offer to sell

to heal the broken-hearted,

find jobs for the unemployed,

ward off bad luck, misfortune,

rake in the lucky winds of day?

Ask what charms of brass or silver

do they keep to keep enemies at bay.

What perfect egg stones

do they hoard for a mysterious visitor?

What special oils and potions?

Is there a bayawak lizard's sundried prick

To make a man desirable to all women?

Is there a bayawak lizard's sundried claw

To keep one from intentional harm?

What magic realms can you dreamwalk

through a bracelet of snake spines?

What dreams can you avoid by wearing

a plane of wood carved with the rising sun?

What make or shape of anting-anting amulet is best?

What spirits to scare with a pouch of black red-eye beans?

What rocks or stones to suck what poisons?

What antidote to a manananggal vampire's bite?

What manner of bones and seeds?

What barks and branches do they hoard?

What powders, what rocks, what liquids?

How much is a twig from the thorny crown of Jesus?

------------------------

© Gene Alcantara, London