Census

When I heard Wittgenstein liken
Language to an ancient city
I stalked him from the plaza as he wove
His way down the maze of meandering streets

Knocking on the doors of old dilapidated
Mansions gentrified through generations
Of tenants with their canopies and annexes
I followed him round the labyrinth

Of alleyways behind tenements and out
Into greenbelts sprouting new suburbs
With their grid of tree-lined avenues
And wide sidewalks and manicured lawns

And I wondered what he did behind
Those doors that answered to his knock
Why it would be ages before he would
Saunter out the front porch a lilt to his steps

So I knocked on one of those doors myself
And repeated what I heard him say
About the words to the lady who then
Ushered me in and pointed me to a door

That led me into a room with another door
That opened out into streets and houses
With doors ajar showing what lay beyond－
More streets and more houses to make a town...


Celebration: An Anthology to Commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Silliman University Writers Workshop, Sands & Coral 2011-2013 Special Edition, ed. Ian Rosales Casocot (Dumaguete City: Silliman University, 2013)