Two Poems

On the Bolo Knife

A blade-long ruler.

A hammer by way of its handle.

Wet steel splitting a coconut in two.

What Lapu Lapu held in one hand

while waving Magellan’s head

in the other.

Since Anchoring to San Francisco Docks, 1945

Before lifted
onto a gurney,
folded into plastic,
& zipped in a bag,
my grandpa says
his goodbyes
in Tagalog
8,000 miles
from where his brother
is a banana leaf
or sampaguita
or whatever
he became
of earth after
the imperial army
invaded.

________

Troy Osaki is a Filipino Japanese poet, community organizer, and attorney from Seattle, WA. A three-time grand slam poetry champion, he has earned fellowships from Kundiman and the Jack Straw Cultural Center. His work has appeared in the Bellingham Review, Blood Orange Review, Hobart, Tinderbox Poetry Journal, and elsewhere. He writes in hopes to build a safe and just place to live in by uniting the people and reimagining the world through poetry.