Năm mới / New Year

by Lawdenmarc Decamora

I feel terribly whole tonight; it must be

the night rain, must be the proud

No Fireworks sign out on the street.

I feel terribly dangerous

like when I arm-wrestled the minutes

to tap out before 12AM crept in.

I think I could smash bricks

w/ my bare hands, screw or shout

until the pyrophile agrees

to deconstruct the night

into constituents of steak & cheese.

But it’s the New Year,

it’s for me to remind you

you’re a strong woman

& maps are makers of the endless

Derridean khora no one knows.

Only do we speak of the night

in Hội An, Vietnam:

of moon lanterns there

& old wounds here

& maybe life in general,

facing & healing it

& as the old years burn away

mantes match the spectre of the free.   

---

Lawdenmarc Decamora is a Filipino poet with work published or forthcoming from Michigan Quarterly Review, The Common, The Seattle Review, North Dakota Quarterly, The Margins, Mantis, Welter, among others. He is the author of "Love, Air" (Atmosphere Press), "TUNNELS" (Ukiyoto), and "Handsome Hope" which is another poetry book forthcoming from Yorkshire Publishing in late 2022. He also holds an MFA in Creative Writing (Poetry) and has participated as a reader, discussant, and writer for Poets in Pajamas Reading Series, ISO BREAK of New York Writers Workshop (NYWW) and Asia Pacific Writers & Translators (APWT), and Tupelo Press 30/30 Project.