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From: Vol.08 N.01 – Embodied Belonging: Towards an Ecopoetic Lyric

Before I Have Time to Grieve

by King Llanza

Coming here barefoot, my soles fully
imprint on the surface of moist soil, resonating
with the warmest sunset tones of Manila Bay.

Somewhere, a sponge is aching as it absorbs
everything like ears collecting the muffled sounds
that go past the tree-lined street.

A day ends. I continue to ache, too,
in splinters, in learning to unlatch
my embrace from a narra tree before the cutting.

This morning, at home, I made an offering to the sink drain—
crumbs of what grew in and what roamed the earth.
In the kitchenette, an answer fell on my nape.

Published: November 2021
King Llanza

(he/they) is from the Philippines. He was a finalist for the 2021 Gaudy Boy Poetry Book Prize. His poems have appeared in Quarterly Literary Review SingaporeVoice & Verse Poetry MagazineSAND Journal, and Cordite Poetry Review, among others. King holds a MSc in Environmental Science and Ecosystem Management.

An Australian and international
journal of ecopoetry and ecopoetics.

Plumwood Mountain Journal is created on the unceded lands of the Gadigal and Wangal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respects to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and to elders past, present and future. We also acknowledge all traditional custodians of the lands this journal reaches.

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