A Composition In A Ricefield Poem by RIC BASTASA

The white herons
Are commas
The carabaos are periods

An eagle flying over my head
Is the head note

The trees are the margins
And the fences

The nipa huts
Are footnotes


The rice field is one big
Pad of paper

And so this is the composition
Of a ricefield

Commas on top of periods
Two head notes will do
Four footnotes
Can make a story of a village

My hand is always the ampersand
And I think
Like there are no carabaos on this pad of paper.