a flower in the mud: ode to a girl in the jeepney

in the play of light and shadow
was her beauty made manifest

amid the battle
of jeepneys jockeying for passengers
amid the rattle
of the loot in the sacks of scavengers
in the cacophony
of vendors vending
and beggars begging
in the stink of open canal
and garbage uncollected
there across me
she sits pristine
a flower in the mud
and chaos of the city

in the toxic mix
of smoke and dust
her fragrance hits me
like a powerful gust

her body is a perfect landscape
an enchanted landscape
of hills and valleys
i contemplate her in silence

her face baths in light
this moonless night
like a beacon to guide me home

a slight turn of head
and i lose my way
in the mirage of her eyes
captured by this rapture
all i see
is an oasis in the desert
all i see
is paradise in the middle of hell
all i see
is you...

but only to soon
you turn away
why do you hide
your face from me miss?
why begrudge me
a bliss such as this?
where are the altars
built in your name?
tell me, miss
so i may go there
to worship at your feet

but the dream ends and i awake
she gets off her stop
and a sad goodbye i silently make
and to dreary reality i return
leaving with a memory in me that will burn
this memory of a face
that brightened one moonless night