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“In the Clothing Archive” from JUAN LUNA’S REVOLVER University of Notre Dame Press, 2009 by Luisa A. Igloria
Reprint for curated project Hidden Summer 2014
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Juan Luna’s
REV
LV E R
LU I SA A . I G L O R I A
University of Notre Dame Press Notre Dame, Indiana
© 2009 University of Notre Dame Press
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Copyright © 2009 by Luisa Igloria Published by the University of Notre Dame Press Notre Dame, Indiana 46556 www.undpress.nd.edu All Rights Reserved Manufactured in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Igloria, Luisa A., 1961– Juan Luna's revolver / Luisa A. Igloria. p. cm. — (The Ernest Sandeen Prize in poetry) ISBN-13: 978-0-268-03178-7 (pbk. : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-268-03178-9 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Filipinos—Poetry. 2. Group identity—Poetry. I. Title. PS3553.A686J83 2008 811'.54 —dc22 2008027897
∞ The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources.
© 2009 University of Notre Dame Press
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IN
THE
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C LOTHING A RCHIVE
Barong Tagalog*
How cold the world grows. Under a moon dyed the colors of rust and blood, threads spin out of the bodies of worms. The pith of green stalks feeds old fires. I embroider suspicion with my hands. Worn loose, ends untucked, it declares there is nothing I conceal. Rendered so, I am a field open always to diminishment. I am the skull under extensions of flesh, the smile of a blade, an amulet of nicked
* The Barong Tagalog is a traditional Filipino men’s shirt of sheer piña (pineapple) or jusi fabric, decorated by hand with intricate embroidery. Spanish colonial authorities were said to have enforced the costume in order to ensure that male colonial subjects were not concealing weapons on their persons.
14 © 2009 University of Notre Dame Press
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bone. Wear it and wed me, invisible shroud, my pale other. History decorated with disappearing stars and lacunae, it’s why you want to look even as you avert your gaze.
15 Š 2009 University of Notre Dame Press