THE FILIPINO POLITICIAN
by Nick Carbo

When he finds his wife in bed with another man--

The conservative politician feels an ache in his stomach,
    remembers the longanisa and the tapa he had for breakfast.
He doesn't know whether to get the doctor or Cardinal Sin 
    on the phone. He calls one of his bodyguards, tells him
to shoot the man and then, his wife. He takes his .38 magnum
    from his brief case, shoots his bodyguard in the back. 

The liberal politician pours himself a glass of Courvoisier,
    remembers a passage from an Anais Nin story.
He is suddenly the one they call the Basque. He removes
    his Dior tie, his Armani shirt, his Calvin Klein boxer shorts.
He puts on a black beret, whispers, tres jolie, tres jolie,
    que bonito, muy grande my petite amore. He joins them
in bed, begins his caresses on the man's calves,
    kisses his way up the man's thighs. 

The communist politician does not call his wife a puta,
    nor does he challenge the man to a duel with balisong knives.
He stays calm, takes out a book of poems by Mao Tse Tung.
    Inspired, he decides to advance the Revolution.
He takes a taxi to Roxas Boulevard, he begins to curse
    and throw rocks at the American Embassy. 
 

Nick Carbo is the author of EL GRUPO McDONALD'S and SECRET ASIAN MAN both books of poetry published by Tia Chucha Press. He is also editor of RETURNING A BORROWED TONGUE and co-editor with Eileen Tabios of BABAYLAN, two ground-breaking anthologies of Filipino/a writing. He lives in Miami, FL with his wife, the poet Denise Duhamel.
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