Bernardo
"Ynad"
Javier

 

Bernardo "Ynad" Javier (b.1971) is an autodidact artist and writer from the Philippines. He studied Mass Communications at the Philippine Christian University in Manila, and worked as a journalist for a national magazine before moving to Denmark in 1994. There he worked for a foreign exchange office and later on, for an IT consultancy firm as a translator. Javier wants his poetry to be multi-dimensional, most of the time employing foreign words for some exotic feel. He describes his poems as "part-personal experiences, part Twilight Zone".

E-mail Bernardo "Ynad" Javier at mac-bij@inet.uni2.dk

Domestic Philosophy

Bubbles, bubbles
Then goes the spoon
Down to the hot water
Waiting for its dirt to leave
Spoon doesn't feel anything
Dirt struggles
Clings to the stem
Brush finishes it

Wife readies everything
Man comes home with the goodies
He messes up the kitchen
She cleans up after him
She is proud to do this
He is just proud

Man watches tv
Woman makes tea
He says she's too slow
She bends her head low
Woman, be patient
Says she to herself
Man is tired

Then she makes dinner
And he reads the news
Then they watch comedy together
But don't laugh
He says actor is bad
She says she doesn't understand

They try to talk of other things
Friends, parties, and football
He says he met his ex
She says she met her old boss
That's interesting, hmmm

Eleven in the evening
Man says, "Why, we need to rest!"
Woman says, "Yes, we do."
They clean their faces and brush their teeth
Man puts his pajamas on
Woman her night cream
He reads The Economist
She reads Jackie Collins

The next day
They repeat the same scenario
Very few changes they've had lately
Life is a circle
Man and woman
Bound together

Love Be Not

Savour before you bite
This bit of Temptation
Because the Longing you've nurtured
Is soon a faded whisper

Let all the flavour sink
Get high with all the sweet sensation
For today is The Last Supper
Tomorrow The Crucifixion

The fruit is full and ripe
Soft as you like it
Tongue it, wet it
Sip the juice you are burning for

Hungry as a predator
Is what you are
Enticing as a lost prey
I will be

VASKERI

I know eight monsters
Stationed at the street corner
They stay in a monotonous quarter
And they have been there all these years

They don't have eyes
Yet they know my secrets
They know many things about me
Every Sunday that I see them
They know more and more

As they spin my secrets
As they cleanse my soul
And make me feel new

I stare at them always
When I visit them 
And I wonder how many secrets
Do they know
Has the local politician washed his soul?
Do they know if a virgin has a whiter soul
Than a prostitute?
Do men wash their souls as often as women do?
What does a child's soul look like?
Is there a soul in leftover coins?
And many other questions

I watch as the eight monsters
Spin and make noise
I wonder if they're telling me my secrets
And all the others they know
Or if they are fed up
With all the stuffs they get
Secrets, souls, detergents
And all 

Note: vaskeri - Danish word for laundrette

1 Nightlife

10:30 pm, Friday at the disco
15 people at the bar
12 people on the dance floor
1 and alone was me

11:30 pm, Friday got going
20 more came
7 went to the bar
3 to the toilet
6 found their seats
4 stood to observe

12:30 am, Saturday morning
25 more were added
5 kissed the guy near the speaker
10 found their own places
3 went to the toilet
3 ordered drinks
2 went straight to the dancefloor
1 stood near the billiard table
1 stared at me

1:30 am, same disco
10 left the venue
5 more came in
6 left the dance floor
2 started kissing
1 was still flirting with me

1:45 am DJ said the disco will close soon
7 left immediately
3 decided to dance more
2 decided to stop necking and petting
1 was decided to bring me home

2:00 am, slut, sarado
1, 2, 5 and 7
3, 4 and 6 
28 at least on the streets
1 was with me
1 we became soon after

Note: slut - Danish for finished; sarado - Filipino for closed