Issue2

Poem by Jonel Abellanosa

by

Transistor Radio

This artifact in a box
brings grandma back to life.
I bought two batteries,
grateful it still works.

 

Turning the tuning dial,
I see her at the sofa, I see me
when I was eight laughing with her
at melodramatic voice actors.
We don’t understand anything.
She speaks her homeland’s
language, guiding me to sleep.
Siesta melds our hearts, together.

 

Without grandma,
back in this pandemic lockdown
that feels unreal, I hear political vitriol,
radio host ranting to like-minded
listeners. I surf for songs, pull up
the antenna, done with weightless
words, promises still unfulfilled
long after we lend our voices
at the voting booth.

Jonel Abellanosa

A Pushcart Prize, Dwarf Stars and Best of the Net Awards nominee, Jonel Abellanosa lives in Cebu City, The Philippines. His poetry and fiction are forthcoming in Poetry Salzburg, Chiron Review and Star*line; and appeared in hundreds of publications, including Pensive, The Lyric, Thin Air, Poetry Kanto, and The Anglican Theological Review. His poetry collections include, “Songs from My Mind’s Tree” and “Multiverse” (Clare Songbirds Publishing House), “50 Acrostic Poems,” (Cyberwit), “In the Donald’s Time” (Poetic Justice Books and Art), “Pan’s Saxophone” (Weasel Press). "

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