OCHRE
TONES
Marjorie Evasco
Marjorie Evasco
The
benediction in the air —
A lizard, translucent and newly-broken
From its shell, kisses the earth
At sundown, repeating the ritual dance
Of marsh and cloud dragons.
A lizard, translucent and newly-broken
From its shell, kisses the earth
At sundown, repeating the ritual dance
Of marsh and cloud dragons.
My
best friend Grace says baby lizards
Are messengers, presaging heat or rain.
She believes in omens: earth calling
The littlest creatures to drink
The first mists of evening.
Are messengers, presaging heat or rain.
She believes in omens: earth calling
The littlest creatures to drink
The first mists of evening.
Who
is to say it is instinct, merely,
Or moisture-need, that makes us
Crawl or bend our lizard lips
Unto the ground? Dusk cools our fevers
And there is joy in this surrender.
Or moisture-need, that makes us
Crawl or bend our lizard lips
Unto the ground? Dusk cools our fevers
And there is joy in this surrender.
Even
now, the tips of bamboo leaves
Hold watergems. In the early evening air
I remember Grace, and somewhere,
An old gecko clicks its rhythmic
Yes yes yes.
Hold watergems. In the early evening air
I remember Grace, and somewhere,
An old gecko clicks its rhythmic
Yes yes yes.
Meet the Writer
MARJORIE EVASCO finished her
master’s degree in Creative Writing at the Silliman University and her
Doctorate of Arts in Language and Literature (DALL) at the De La Salle
University-Manila. She served as Director of DLSU's Bienvenido N. Santos
Creative Writing Center.
Evasco has received
Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards, National Book Awards from the Manila Critics'
Circle, Philippines Free Press, Arinday (Silliman University), and Gintong
Aklat (Book Development Association of the Philippines) prizes. She has
received various international fellowships: Hawthornden Castle, Rockefeller
grant and residency, Vancouver International Writers' Festival, International
Writers' Program fellowship, University of Malaya Cultural Centre and the
Wordfeast 1st Singapore International Literary Festival.
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