Posted in Melissa's Words on Feb 16th, 2010
Dear Friends,
I want to urge you to help us in the effort to demand that the Philippine military release the 43 healthcare workers that were illegally arrested and detained on February 6, 2010 in Morong, Rizal, Philippines.
This issue is close to my heart because I know what it feels like to be held incommunicado, in [...]
Posted in Melissa's Words on Nov 11th, 2009
Dear U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton,
I am writing to you because you are going to visit the Philippines to meet with President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. I would like to appeal for you to discuss the gross human rights violations happening under the Arroyo administration. I am a United States citizen, a human [...]
Posted in Melissa's Words on Aug 21st, 2009
Humus
by Melissa Roxas
I.
The composition of earth changes every time something is mixed into it. The rains come and it becomes mud when mixed with water. Seeds, when planted, flower into something that feeds you. The same is true of smell and sounds. Isn’t it often said that when you talk to [...]
Posted in Melissa's Words on Aug 7th, 2009
Disinter
by Melissa Roxas
Her red shorts were left
in an abandoned shack
a rag on the rotting wood floor
the heavy screen door, shut
the echo of her voice
a scrap between the cracks…
found
a fingernail.
It was said
two women and a man were spotted
somewhere along that road
in a solitary town two years ago
spotted? like cattle?
or deer in the wild?
ready for slaughter?
There is [...]
Posted in Melissa's Words on Aug 2nd, 2009
[This poem was conceived and memorized by Melissa during her abduction.]
Come before the Night Hour
Come and Sing
before Night
Comes. I am Flame
to the Body.
The Incipient Wing
that can’t Fly.
The Open
Skin on a Foot
that Bleeds
Black. Tonight
I will learn to Die
a Thousand Times
and Be Resurrected.
Posted in Melissa's Words on Jun 21st, 2009
Dearest Friends,
The recent birth of my niece reminds me that life is something more than just presence, it is the earth rising inside of you, the earth that has been there since the beginning, but taking a different form.
I started to think about all the other babies I had seen as a community health worker [...]