Villa in Manila

In memory of Jose Garcia Villa, Poet Laureate and National Artist for Literature.


Manila has recognized and remembered one of its literary sons. This marker was put up in 1999 with the attendance of the PBBY board members.

First, A Poem Must Be Magical
By Jose Garcia Villa

First, a poem must be magical,
Then musical as a seagull.
It must be a brightness moving
And hold secret a bird’s flowering
It must be slender as a bell,
And it must hold fire as well.
It must have the wisdom of bows
And it must kneel like a rose.
It must be able to hear
The luminance of dove and deer.
It must be able to hide
What it seeks, like a bride.
And over all I would like to hover
God, smiling from the poem’s cover.

Source: http://www.seasite.niu.edu/Tagalog/Literature/Poems/Others/First_A_Poem_Must.htm