Poets

Bitter(Sweet) Love

poems by yellow brown women thinking about those who both embrace and elude us

Chocolate evokes so many things. Obsession, depression, consumption,
revulsion. Especially with that damned new dulce de leche m&m flavor that
has surfaced in your local grocery store, a comfort food. How something that
doesn't add anything to your health keeps you looking for it, even though
you know better. Momentary pleasure that somehow ends up making your ass the
size of a triple F cup. Torches for a person you know you don't need in your
life or can't get enough of. The very idea of a someone or a something which
plucks the heartstrings and makes your third eye sting, yet...in some
bizarre way you can't help but feel like a mental masochist because of it.

Pinay Kalamansi is a team of fil-am sisters riding high on a jeepney to hell built for two. Readings at the Red Chair Lounge Benefits..., a different place to express, is hosted by the two of them, who offer a new space for artists to get angry and indulge in free tropical alcoholic libations in los angeles, sans tiki god glasses or oriental umbrellas.

Trisha Perez is infused inspiration that happened while brushing her hair in the bathroom on an early Thursday morning which led her to buzz phloe to parent and create PINAY KALAMANSI. Until that point, her spirit walked and followed a path of rocky roadz (and she don't mean ice cream folks), sharp turnz, dizzying detourz and the like. Only to find herself to her MALAYA (name of/for freedom), divine design directs me at all times. So far, she has trekked through the streets of UCLA, Big Apple dreams turned to Los Angeles reveries, exquisite soul2soul connections, but most of all, the creative and artistic lanes of graphics, dancing, singing, writing, living, living, and more living. These days, she aspires to remain true to her self and her passions.

phloe is...one struggling mofucka. deciding that the only thing left to do was the hustle, she sells t shirts that scream identity politics as a social experiment, as art for the masses, to help fund the anthology project and as a way to ensure she can buy enough instant ramen to last week to week. she was born and nurtured within her heroine, chicago, only to have a quiet love affair living in sin with los angeles and when crackas ask her why she> doesn't ever use her last name she tells them that once they prove they can pronounce it instead of butchering it, she'll think about it. she lives for mangotribe, the asian american artists' collective chicago, and Daren.

Accepting Submissions for Anthology:
To contact us: pinaykalamansi@yahoo.com
Deadline is April 30, 2002.
Postal Mail: Anthology, c/o pinaykalamansi 297 Sierra Place, Upland, CA 91786