Reclamation by Angelo V. Suarez

I was knocked straight into my guts by this poem. I think I'm in love with him (Angelo) na, swear!!! Ah, such imagery, it's giving me goosebumps!

“What sphinx of cement and aluminum
                 bashed open their skull and ate up
                 their brains and imagination?”
                                                 –Allen Ginsberg, from Howl 

you do not own me
              you do not own me
                            coconut country whose blood is concrete
whose eyes are replete with the sight of cement
              twin eyelids of corrugated roof
                            whose skin is corrugated roof
scalp of corrugated roof whose hairs
              are filaments of cement
                            whose nose sniffs cement
& the scent of we concrete
              whose nape is replete with tenement homes
                            dreaming dollars    disneyland    daisies
dreaming gold mines in america
              dreaming America where our people
                            are cardboard heroes refilling gas tanks
are heroes dying of starvation & shame
              of watching their children become children
                            of domestic helpers    domestic heroes
heroes that dry-clean american coats
              that man limousines    heroes that feed dying americans
                            their last dying meals osterized like gerber
changing their adult diapers
              babies whose tongues
                            are tongues of cement
are tongues of steel
              you do not own me
                            you do not own me
coconut country whose tv’s are owned by america
              whose streets are paved with the golden feathers
                            of america’s favorite primetime bird
(what giant fists for eyes they have
              he & his imaginary elephant friend)
                            coconut country whose semen is cement
you have been robbed of your legends
              what happened to humadapnon    gaki
                            labaw donggon   the pagan warriors
whose coconut fists socked the eyes
              out of demon sockets
                            fists that knocked the living daylights
out of demons   out of natives
              out of the imaginations of natives
                            whose lands were tilled by their own flaming hands
whose lands were walked upon
              by bathala himself
                            you   America   whose hand   whose throat
whose stomach is filled with the sap of my country
              whose eyes are eyes that see
                            the pornography of my country
whose hands are hands are the hands
              that milk my country of its semen & imagination
                            you   America   whose mouth has mesmerized
our men with myths of better lives
              better planes & better tanks
                            you whose tales have replaced our tales
with tales of your own
              you who own our hotdogs   our hamburgers
                            you who own our tv’s & souls
bring us back our bamboo   our children
              bring us back our money   our coconuts
                            bring us back our coconuts
and brown-skinned lumawig
              will spare you your convenient caucasian lives
                            you do not own me
you do not own me
              coconut country whose heart
                            is the size of an American fist
for centuries I had owned you
              and I will get you   get you
                            and I will get you back