TULA
Filing
By Rosmon Tuazon

 

I.

 

The trick, really,

is not to panic.

 

Let loose, let

 

your hands

dance

as the sundry

documents

 

shuffle.

 

Imagine salsa

whipping on the background-

 

Listen

to it swoop

and spin

and flip

 

as the realignment

begins:

 

a, b, c, d

one

two

three

put it here

and put it there,

slip it out

and slip it in.

 

II.

Hold a hand up

and flex your fingers

real wide apart

from each other,

while the other hand

aims

 

and inserts a piece of it

in one finger-space

to another,

shifting

back and forth

and meeting

in-between

until

you pull-out

the last sleeve

 

of confusion.

 

III.

 

But this I should

tell you: sooner

 

or later you will

have to walk

 

outside and see

the big picture,

 

see your days

pile up one by one

 

quicker than

the bat of eye.

 

At the foot of the tower

you will stand

 

utterly confounded:

on you, a heavy, quivering

 

splay of shadow.

Yet, all this time,

 

everything will be

so clear to you,

 

you will know exactly

what you have to do.

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