for dave

Slow down
Until he halts to a full stop
And rest by the road side
As he needs a place to think
Below this sky, with stars - a million
Of them in circles and lines like dots.
Only sparkling, tirelessly.

(Until they collapse to create
New stars where none existed before,
Leaving either pulsars
Or black holes.

He'll say.)

Like silver and amber on dark fabric
Spread over like a blanket from
Batanes to Zamboanga, past all
The battlements and vintas to
The coast of Manila where it comes
Full circle to where the boy stops

And looks up.

He takes rest and lets his mind wander,
Question, dream and weave a thousand
Questions more. For he knows that answers
Are just around the corner - and one
Just have to dig
And ask deeper.

And like Amelia he'll fly from
Dela Rosa to some high street -
And no one can tell him that he
Can't land his plane on his journal,
Or for that matter in the midst
Of the busy metropolis which
He adores. He is never afraid
To walk away and frolic
In cobblestones and be drenched in
April monsoon. He fancies that.

So beside this ditch by the road,
Smell the gardenia, take a moment
And lie beneath this field of stars.
Listen as a girl from the block hums,
'But don't leave me alone in this sky'.

Don't go.
Stay, and look up.
Let this be the place you need
To stop and think.

*******

Contains elements of the composition 'No Me Ames' written by Giancarlo Bigazzi, Marco Falagiani, Ignacio Ballesteros and Aleandro Baldi.