Excerpts from
P H I L T E R
Normie Salvador 2003  $8
Design by Jeff Sanner

from "Birthing Pains"

Courage is the smell of being born.

He strangled on a red rope
as he fought into this world.

She did not intend to
---------------------------- nurse her emptiness.

They counseled speaking,
exploring grief.
When I spoke, the words
dance themselves into sense-less-ness.

Normie Salvador has an M.A. from the University of Hawai`i at Manoa in English. He is a freelance copy-editor and co-editor of the literary magazine Hybolics. Philter ends with an essay by Salvador on his position within the literary community in Hawai`i.