Tree House

Tree House

Dr Abe V Rotor

   Wild Mango or Pahutan, Atimonan, Quezon.  

Photo by AV Rotor, circa 1990 

A boy appeared from behind

the big pahutan*away from town;

his eyes were blue, his face kind,

and as bright as a king's crown.

His smile led me to inquire

who he was and where he lived,

questions not meant to require

him to answer like a fugitive,

He pointed at the tree and sky;

I followed him with a frown

and searched the branches up high,

to find no house at the crown. 

I looked down and the boy was gone. ~ 

                            - AV Rotor, Light in the Woods, 1995 Megabooks

* Mangifera altissima (commonly known as pahutan, paho, or pajo), is a species of mango native to the Philippines and surrounding regions in Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. It is not grown commercially but is harvested from the wild in the Philippines.