by Justine Camacho Tajonera
How far are these 'higher things'
from what I feel for you?
The earthly, humble touch
of your hand,
the pressure of your shoulder
on the side of my head
when I'm tired,
the smell of laundry on your
shirt mixed with your
end-of-day sweat.
And what if these things
bind me to this earth?
Our baby's gummy smile,
the smell of his fingers
after he has sucked on them
because he's teething,
his warm cheek after he
falls asleep?
I would go no higher
than the height of our
shared bed.
I fix my eyes on the
circle that we make
and pray for God's
forgiveness for coveting
all this borrowed
time.
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ABOUT THE POET ~
Justine Camacho – Tajonera was born and grew up in Cebu City, Philippines. Her mother named her after Justine, the stepdaughter of Justine Hosnani, from the Alexandria Quartet by Lawrence Durrell. She lost her mother at the age of three and this loss has been a recurring theme in her work. She has a degree in Communication Arts from the Ateneo de Manila University (Philippines) where she got a Dean’s Award for the Arts for her prose and poetry. Despite starting a corporate career in telecommunications, she pursued an M.A. in English Literature to keep her close to her first love of writing., She has had her poetry published in several anthologies and local publications and she recently published her eBook, <a href="http://www.lulu.com/shop/justine-camacho-tajonera/artemis-lets-go/ebook/product-20735014.html" target="_blank">Artemis Lets Go</a>, on Lulu.com. She maintains a poetry blog, <a href="http://claimingalexandria.blogspot.com" target="_blank">Claiming Alexandria</a>, from which she has gathered most of the poems for her book, <a href="http://www.lulu.com/shop/justine-camacho-tajonera/gift-poems/ebook/product-20734890.html" target="_blank">Gift</a>., She works full time in the mobile content industry in the Philippines, is married and has two children. Writing is her passion and she will continue to write all her life.
Last updated May 16, 2013