Chamber

Written in 1992, the poem was first published in Caracoa, the Poetry Journal of the Philippine Literary Arts Council.

By Argee Guevarra

His pulse leaps at a switch,
nodes stethoscoping
the balls of his belief.
The pain of ohms
metre his grit,
a swift charge
for his string of guilt.

An iron stick
drills his teeth
As water slips to blimp
his lungs. Once full
his body sinks,
mind adrift:
the spirit shrifts!

Boots rifle butts
stamp his ribs;
fists graph maps
of blue and black,
squeezing red
from a dead-stubborn
cranium crack.

(The chamber is a stage.
a stage where humans rage).

About the poet:

Roberto “Argee” Guevarra is a lawyer by profession, an activist by preoccupation and a poet by vocation.  He used to write lifestyle and opinion pieces for several magazines and newspapers in the Philippines and co-authored a poetry anthology. He currently lives in Pasig City and is kept sane by Zippo, a French bulldog.

Chamber was originally published in Caracoa, the Poetry Journal of the Philippine Literary Arts Council.