Boy of All Skies

What was I then but
some lifted soul in some
body of a wide-eyed
long-lashed

boy with black-white
ivory for bones
boy with fork and
spoon for hands

boy in loose polo
boy in fake jordans

boy with flag keychain
and oxtail lunch

boy hyphenated I

often picture a boy
barely born at the

airplane window
watching little islands go by

his mother singing
isa dalawa until he

cries from the drone of
engines, the cabin pressure

and even then, this
boy knows not just

the pain in his ears or
the bottle on his tongue, but

knows he is sky
upon sky upon sky.

Jeremy Pulmano is a senior at Princeton University studying Computer Science with a certificate in Creative Writing. He is currently writing a poetry collection on Filipino-American identity and erasure for his senior thesis. When he’s not writing poetry, he’s usually dancing. When he’s not dancing, he’s probably sleeping.