akong dreams of his mother

akong dreams of his mother
who is not dead
she has an entire harvest of sunset-colored
mangoes gathered up in her hands
brown, the way all loving soil under coconut trees color
in evening light
he is in davao, shirt sleeve drenched in beer & the reprise of The Phantom of the Opera,
hometown that he hasn't left yet for stolen land
everything, the gnat clouds and lumber and street children, is his birthright
akong tosses & turns against his mother's perfume
she has dropped the mangoes by his feet and now strangles him with her lovely, calloused hands
the villagers gather to watch this familial tragedy as akong labors for breath, clutches at the air once, twice
chanting fills his ears
Just a urine test, the onlookers say together
at his feet, a little girl with two braids claps to the beat
just a urine test the catheter is in and out just a urine test
akong closes his eyes but
they are already closed all the way