Canvas--By April Mae M. Berza--Philippines

Canvas

your back is a blank canvas
where my skillful hands paint
with desire, bathing the nude canvas
with oil as my hands feel
the smoothness of your back like
a night sky with a constellation
of moles

I inhale the scent of grief as I
color the canvas with the tint
of tears

painting your back follows a pattern,
burying the alphabet is an art,
lost until love found reason

pressing, pressing my fingers
against the virgin canvas, I stroke
with my gentle hand, brushing
your back, back and forth, I mix
my salty tears with oil
as I imprint my signature
on your back

April Mae M. Berza is the author of Confession ng isang Bob Ong Fan (Flipside, 2014). Her poems and short stories appeared in numerous publications in the US, Canada, Romania, India, Japan, UK and the Philippines. Her poems are translated in Crimean, Tatar and Filipino. Some of her poems are published in The Siren, Poetica, Metric Conversions, Ani, The Manila Times and Contemporary Verse 2, to name a few. Her poem "E-Martial Law" was broadcast on IndoPacific Radio on KPFA 94.1FM/kpfa.org. She is a member of Poetic Genius Society. She lives in Taguig, Philippines