White Pages
So there I am, page 698,
column two, four from the top:
“PANGANIBAN, Richard..... 387-0586”
nestled below my long lost cousins
Maria and Rafael Panganiban,
just above Rosanna Pangasnan
of the Upper West Side.
Cleo Pangandaman
leads the page, the poor dear –
"I'm sorry, could you repeat that?"
"Pan-gan-DA-man.
P-A-N-G-A-N-A, oh hell, just put Cleo."
There we are, a whole city on a page –
Palomo, Paltrowitz, Paltridge,
Panchansky, Pansanjani, two columns of Pan's
not to mention David Pancake,
Panolsa Panic, that tongue twister
Papagiannakis Pangiotopoulos,
and the melodic Ling Pong Pang.
It is a quiet thrill to see myself
named and located within this crowd
like I belong here
in this city of strange syllables.
©rikpanganiban
february 1998
column two, four from the top:
“PANGANIBAN, Richard..... 387-0586”
nestled below my long lost cousins
Maria and Rafael Panganiban,
just above Rosanna Pangasnan
of the Upper West Side.
Cleo Pangandaman
leads the page, the poor dear –
"I'm sorry, could you repeat that?"
"Pan-gan-DA-man.
P-A-N-G-A-N-A, oh hell, just put Cleo."
There we are, a whole city on a page –
Palomo, Paltrowitz, Paltridge,
Panchansky, Pansanjani, two columns of Pan's
not to mention David Pancake,
Panolsa Panic, that tongue twister
Papagiannakis Pangiotopoulos,
and the melodic Ling Pong Pang.
It is a quiet thrill to see myself
named and located within this crowd
like I belong here
in this city of strange syllables.
©rikpanganiban
february 1998
Favorite NY poem
