My hair is not black but dark brown
It has streaks of white and old strands
A rendering of unfortunate genes and
Of old age and memories and regret
The nose belies the notion of a mongrel
With a taller bridge than the usual flatness
And a proportional girth that squares
An otherwise plain and ordinary face
It is the tongue that gives it away and
The tongue is never assured when
It comes to intolerance to skin and
To eyes that defy the notional slant
Ask me anything about how the sun shines
In little black corners of complex hearts
And I will tell you of the darkness of the earth
Where the same light of the sun delights
These my thick lips my ears my bulbous face
Vessels and symbols of wishes and ardent hope
Could only touch the blackness of the night
Into your fair hands that welcome my own
Ramon Loyola is a writer, editor, legal author and lawyer. Born and raised in the Philippines, he holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Pharmacy from the University of the Philippines, a Master of Law and Legal Practice and an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS). After working in a variety of roles — including as a clinical pharmacist, public and media relations specialist, television scriptwriter, magazine editor and medical writer — Ramon came to Australia in 1995 and worked as a court clerk, court registrar and manager, before becoming a lawyer in 2005 and working full-time in various government legal agencies while also writing for legal professional publications.
Ramon’s poetry, fiction, non-fiction and legal and medical writing have appeared in various publications. He published two collections of poetry in 2014, not poems, just words and I Look For You in Other Truths. not poems, just words was a Finalist in the National Indie Excellence Awards (USA) for Poetry in 2014.
New Melbourne-based small press In Short Publishing Company has also published one of Ramon’s short stories, Words That Don’t Mean Anything, as part of a series of stand-alone pocketbooks in 2015. His latest book is The Heaving Pavement (2015), an experimental memoir in poetic, prose and illustrated forms about his struggle with anxiety. He lives in inner-Sydney’s Newtown.