WHERE THE SUN BLACKENED MY HAIR, ILOCANDIA

which is to say, I'm about to go HERE and will thence be offline until August 15.

When I return, I immediately launch into preparing the next issue of Galatea Resurrects (GR) for its August release. So reviewers, pls try to send me your reviews by the deadline of Aug. 17 -- though, to help prevent an email jam while I'm offline, I'd prefer emails to be sent after Aug. 15 (whether on GR or other matters).

Until then, I leave you with Marjorie Evasco's simply fabulous essay on Filipina women writers, which includes "What Are They Like" by Lina Reyes:

What treasures do they hold then that
Battalions pursue them in earnest?

Do not look for treasures, Sir, though they have
Women of long lashes, sun-blacked hair.
Think instead of the proud way they once lived–

You--and you know who you are among those reading me--I leave you with Marjorie's paper which, to me, is as good as any portal into Babaylan poetics.