Before and After the Dictator

1.

dew clings to the leaf
as long as it can

drops like the sky’s answer
to the prayer of the land

2.

blood clings to the leaf
as long as it can

drops like the sky’s tear
for the people of the land

Jonel Abellanosa lives in Cebu City, The Philippines. His poetry and fiction are forthcoming in The Cape Rock, Woodcrest Magazine and Poetry Salzburg Review, and have appeared in hundreds of magazines and anthologies, including Dissident Voice, New Verse News, Chiron Review, Invisible City, The Lyric, The McNeese Review, and The Anglican Theological Review. His poetry collections include, “Songs from My Mind’s Tree” and “Multiverse” (Clare Songbirds Publishing House, New York), “50 Acrostic Poems,” (Cyberwit, India), “In the Donald’s Time” (Poetic Justice Books and Art, Florida), and “Pan’s Saxophone” (Weasel Press, Texas). He is a nature and animal lover, especially dogs and has with three companion dogs. Read other articles by Jonel.