Martial Law Memorial
We barrel through backroads
past pink plastic chairs,
a puddle of bottle caps,
titos squatting flat-footed
under the greasy sun.
Sweat rags swung
around their necks,
their tank tops rolled
halfway up themselves,
stomachs glistening.
I cling to my torn leather
seat, basketball shorts
yanked in the wind,
the smell of gas swatting my nose.
At the memorial, we park––
stretch our legs out the sidecar.
A pack of strays in the street
yap into the sky.
AGATEP, Zacarias
AGUILAR, Zorro C.
ALINGAL, Godofredo B.
ALVAREZ, Emmanuel I.
AMATONG, Jacobo S.
ANDRES, Trifonio N.
AQUINO, Benigno S. Jr
AQUINO, Jeremias A.
ARCE, Santiago
ARCEO, Ferdinand M.
ASUNCION, Filomena G.
BALANDO, Elsa
BARROS, Ma. Lorena M.
BEGG, William Vincent A.
BERNARD, Mary
BERNARDO, Pepito V.
BUCAG, Renato L.
CABARUBIAS, Tranquilino
CABRERA, Claro
CAILING, Crisostomo
CASTRO, Rolando
CATALLA, Cristina F.
CLARETE, Ronillo Noel M.
CLIMACO, Cesar
CONCEPCION, Roberto R.
DAPOG, Eliseo G.
DEHERAN, Pepito L.
DE JESUS, Jeremias S.
DE LA PAZ, Remberto A.
DINGCONG, Demosthenes B.
DIOKNO, Jose W.
DULAG, Macli’ing
ENQIQUEZ, Albert R.
ESCANDOR, Juan B.
EVANGELIO, Ronilo T.
FAUSTINO, Gerardo T.
FAVALI, Tullio
FERNANDEZ, Resteta A.
GABRIEL, Luis I.
GARCIA, Enrique Voltaire R. Jr.
HILAO, Liliosa R.
HILARIO, Antonio M.
ILAGAN, Rizalina P.
JARAVELLO, Juvelyn
JAVIER, Evelio B.
JOPSON, Edgar M.
JUCO, Estelita G.
LACABA, Emmanuel F.
LADLAD, Ma. Leticia P.
LAGMAN, Hermon C.
LANSANG, Lorenzo C.
LAURELLA, Francisco C.
LAZO, Emmanuel L.
LINGAD, Jose B.
LOPEZ, Mariano M.
MAGLANTAY, Rizaldy M.
MAGPANTAY, Aurelio D.
MANAOG, Redelo Z.
MORDENO, Rodrigo
OBISPO, Immanuel M.
OLIVAR, Mateo
ONTONG, Manuel F.
ORCULLO, Alexander L.
ORTIGAS, Gaston Z.
BUCAG, Renato L.
CABARUBIAS, Tranquilino
CABRERA, Claro
CAILING, Crisostomo
CASTRO, Rolando
CATALLA, Cristina F.
CLARETE, Ronillo Noel M.
CLIMACO, Cesar
CONCEPCION, Roberto R.
DAPOG, Eliseo G.
DEHERAN, Pepito L.
DE JESUS, Jeremias S.
DE LA PAZ, Remberto A.
DINGCONG, Demosthenes B.
DIOKNO, Jose W.
DULAG, Macli’ing
TAYAG, Carlos N.
TEEHANKEE, Claudio
TIERRA, Noel C.
UMALI, Ysmael G.
VALCOS, Danilo C. Jr.
VALERIO, Christopher Nilo
YAP, Emmanuel R.
YUYITUNG, Quintin G.
ZALDIVAR, Calixto O.
ACEBEDO, Norberlo H. Jr.
ALVAREZ, Amada E.
ALVAREZ, Marsman T.
ATIENZA, Monico M.
DOMINGO, Silme G.
FEDERIS, Rolando M.
FLORES, Ceferino A. Jr
GALANGREYES, Rosalinda
LAGUERDER, Edwin C.
MOLINTAS, Write M. Jr.
PADUANO, Joji S.
TA CA, Arturo M.
VIERNES, Gene a.
ANASTACIO, Marciano P. Jr.
AQUINO, Eduardo Q.
CAMUS, Fortunato
CERVANTES, Benjamin H.
CORTEZ, Hernando M.
DOJILLO, Edgardo G.
DOROTAN, Manuel G.
ESTELLA-SIMBULAN, Lourdes
FILIO, Ricardo P.
GOMEZ, Ma. Margarita F.
JIMENEZ-MAGSANOC, Leticia
JOSE, Joel Cecilio O.
LABAYEN, Julio Xavier L.
PERALTA, Romulo D.
SALONGA, Jovito R.
TANGENTE, Jose Aquilino T.
VILLADOS, Simplicio D.
VIZMANOS, Danilo P.
ZUMEL, Antonio L.
I say every name
I can before sundown
the way I would
my grandpa’s,
Guillermo,
if we met again
in our country
his dad combed
his hair in neatly
like rows of rice
before flooded
by typhoons.
The grandson of Filipino immigrants and the great-grandson of Japanese immigrants, Troy Osaki is a poet, organizer, and attorney. He is a three-time grand slam poetry champion and has earned fellowships from Kundiman, Hugo House, and Jack Straw Cultural Center. He was awarded a Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry fellowship from the Poetry Foundation in 2022. A Critic-at-Large for Poetry Northwest, his poetry has appeared in Crazyhorse, Hobart, the Margins, Muzzle Magazine, and Tinderbox Poetry Journal, among others. He holds a Juris Doctor degree from the Seattle University School of Law where he interned at Creative Justice, an arts-based alternative to incarceration for youth in King County. He lives in Seattle, WA where he was born and raised.
