How to peel and eat a poem in Specks: A love poem for Hambil

How to peel and eat a poem in Specks:  A love poem for Hambil

Have you quietly fell in love with a place? I did with Hambil, Carabao Island's old name and it is located in San Jose, Romblon. On page 70 of Specks, I wrote a love poem for Hambil.  It is a kind of love not based on man-made excitements of tumbles and rides. It is something absorbed by the soul from a quaint and laidback white sand island which made an alluring call for me to go back as soon as I left it. I made this poem to celebrate the sensuous experience of the place.

In the first paragraph, the body here represents the oceans, and the waves can be heard.

The sound of your body
gently whipped by the wind
was a poem of love
read right next to my ear.

The white arms are the stretch of white sand  placed around my body while I lay down over it.

The finest feel of your white arms
stretched around my body
as I rolled over you many times
was cotton-feel heaven on earth.

The blue eyes are the blueness of the sea as I look at it from afar while lying down on the sand. Morpheus is the god of sleep.

The calming hues of blue of your eyes
as they stared back at me
summoned one silly thought:
Can I close my eyes
and submit to Morpheus
yet at the same time open it
to see my muses in your blue eyes?

Then the sunbathing while looking at the blue oceans caused sunburns but swimming in the salty waters makes me forget the sunburn.

While looking at the
The coolness of your clear blue body
and the cottony feel of your white arms
as we got closer today made me forget
the furtive kisses of the jealous sun on my back.
The mild saltiness of your sweat
pleasantly surprised me
as I immersed myself in your blue body
for hours that already seemed like eternity.

The rocks at the tip of the island are likened to moles in the body and it is where I rested to observe the skies on a sunset.

The sharp moles by the end of your long line
spread against your white arms
are like old docks for fishes and souls like me.
As I rested on your moled arms,
the sun who browned me with his stolen kisses earlier
now makes amends as I look at the skies
with his setting rays of all hues in between red and orange
that make you even more enticing to gaze at.

Night swimming is a favorite of mine, and at night, I loved it when the waters hit my body because they look like diamonds. Sweat here refers to the waters.

You will be the sparkling gems against my body
when you continue to splash me
with your cold sweat later at night.
I will love to linger in your quietness a little more
because every moment with you is a gem.

Then the sadness of separation sets in as I ended the day.

But I will decide to leave your arms for I wish to see
more of your nakedness in the first hour of the morning.
Of course, you will follow me in my dreams.

In the end, I must ask this because every place I loved before has become a tourist destination and they turned out not as charming as the first date we had.

Oh, Hambil, will I or you ever be the same
when I get back tomorrow?

*Photo is not that of Hambil's scenery.
Photo by author.
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