The Nick Joaquin Story Poem by RIC BASTASA

I remember pretty well
As I write these
Poems, these unlikely
Unbecoming poems
Of a legal mind
Wanting still
To craft
A bridge poem
To connect
Two untalking
Worlds

Nick Joaquin indeed
Wrote so well and
Won the hearts
Of Filipino
Literati when
He gave them
The Portrait of
A Filipino as
An Artist

In fact the story
Was made into
A play and Nick
Was invited to watch

An actress who
Played a minor role
Was so irritated
About this drunken
Old rugged
foul smelling
alcoholic
dirty
man,
And seeing him
drank as
Usual with lots
Of beer,
she shouted
omigod!
shouted at
At him

“old man, this is
a nice play, so please
do not watch it drunk
and disappoint us
with your unruly
behaviour! ”

she felt he was just
kind of rude
uncultured
and disrespectful
to the content
of the play
of the portrait
of the Filipino
as an Artist.

she
agreed
the story
was grand
the play grander

what she did not know
she was shouting
at Nick Joaquin
the author
of the story
the
mighty author
of the story
that was made
into a grander play
of the century

Nick Joaquin left the theater
The actress did not really know
What she was saying about
Authorship
and
behavior.