Paról

I love these lanterns not for their meaning
But for the bright colors they still give
when I close my eyes
scenes from a strip mall childhood
Grocery store errands in my Catholic school uniform 
Drive-thru’s at McDonalds with Christmas on the radio 
Nine-day novenas leading up to Simbang Gabi
and afterward the long awaited Noche Buena 
with a shiny lechon in the center of a hall 
filled with a hungry diaspora
when there used to be more rain
in those Decembers 
I love these lanterns
for other reasons unknown
for the history of this particular star
is filled with tears
It’s hard to understand 
why certain artifacts and relics 
Call to you
If it’s a desire for meaning
when it’s hard to find stars in this daily sky
And so you look them up 
Like stickers imprinted in your mind
And in this fragmented search about the paról
There is the story of Bethlehem
which is the same story of the migrant
Searching for a home
Fleeing homes
Losing homes from floods, fires, wars, capitalism 
It’s the same story about the rulers
who produce the stars we believe in
who own the clearest skies to see them
And never mind the rulers created the myth
The poet owns the memory