Poems by Maria Evelyn Quilla Soleta
MY POINSETTIAS
January began its silent prancing,
Strutted like the winged horse,
Pegasus.
I wheezed all through winter
Which sprang through thin air.
“But O, alas!
I gasped at my pretty poinsettias,
What a dismay~
Red petaled no longer!”
Numbly, noiselessly came February.
With no demands
Winter disappeared,
So did my flowers!
Months rippled in the trance
Of time
Then flipped its wings.
Now I am missing in the gloom,
Sorely missing
My radiant blooms!
“December, you stay.
Please stay.
Poinsettias, my poinsettias,
Be crimson forever.
Glow~
Show~
Grow all year through
Not only in December!”
I SEE GIRLS, I SEE DAUGHTERS
I see girls but I also see daughters.
I still love to kiss them till they stir
I still remind them to always wear slippers
I still comb their fresh-smelling hair.
I still love to kiss them till they stir.
I still call them my ‘pangga’ dear
I still pray for their little fears
I still show to them my utmost care.
I still call them my ‘pangga’ dear.
I still like to hear their loud laughter
I still listen to their secret whispers
I still keep their old, old letters.
I see girls but I also see daughters.
HELLO, AUGUST!
Behold! O, the mighty, daring Leo is coming!
birds are way up, up high;
the Sun in its setting;
this year is to its close;
Autumn’s in the offing;
smell harvests. smell manures;
the heavy paws thund’ring;
this August dominance;
unfit for circus ring;
I wear my tangerines;
I wait for her, the queen!
Hurrah to the vivacious, Lion.
She is reigning!
About the Poet:
MARIA EVELYN QUILLA SOLETA gives thanks to prose and poetry! Motherhood is a calling and subject so close to her heart. She lives in Cavite, Philippines. Her poems are unadorned yet truthful, purposely warm, and witty. People, places, things, and even circumstances give colors to her rhythm and rhymes, stanzas, and lines. She began to write poems when she was six and has published three books on poetry, ‘My Twenty Poems’, ‘Finding My Heart’, (an Amazon bestseller in five categories a few hours after its launching in January 2021), and ‘Chasing Sunsets with You’ in 2023, also an Amazon bestseller. Her works can be found in many anthology books and journals. Evelyn has also won local and international awards. Her poems resemble the works of a woman poet, Edna St. Vincent Millay. Evelyn’s husband Danny, and their four girls Andrea, Guia, Daniella, and Laura, and three grandchildren Tala, Mayla, and Lucas, keep her inspired to continue this passion of hers– Writing!
