poem

Hummingbird

by Amadeo Mangune Mendoza

Small dot that wants

To begin and end a sentence.

Then, again begin. Might be subject

Like a dirigible low

Tagging a nice thin kid a

Predicate indispensable

I love you.

You love I

Am the wind waltzing

You cling to

To sniff unattended blossoms

In your childhood shaky.

Skitter backward to the blooming

Shy orchids of your hurts.

Repeat after me, you would

Often say

To me and my other I

Which is like balloons going down

After a brief waltz

With the sky.

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Amadeo M. Mendoza is a former literature instructor at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, Philippines. His poems have appeared in Likhaan: Journal of Contemporary Philippine Literature, The Philippines Free Press, Philippines Graphic, TLDTD, and in almost all of the literary journals in the Philippines. Internationally, his poems have appeared in The Inflectionist Review, Gargoyle Magazine, Eunoia Review, and elsewhere. His first book of poems, February  Rain, was launched at the Philippine Book Festival in April 2024.