What do you think?
Rate this book
Marka Demonyo Or Poems on Love, Faith, and Duct Tape
- GenresPoetry
136 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2020
9 people are currently reading
75 people want to read
About the author
Lourd Ernest H. de Veyra
14 books317 followersLourd Ernest Hanopol de Veyra is a multi-awarded Filipino musician, poet, journalist, broadcast personality, and activist who first became famous for being the vocalist of Manila-based jazz rock band Radioactive Sago Project.
De Veyra graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from the University of Santo Tomas.
As literary influences, de Veyra cites Beat movement writers such as Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac. He explains, speaking as a fellow at the 45th UP National Writers Workshop:
“What I look for in poetry is an uneasy kind of energy. An energy that is already beyond the configuration of words and then assumes a density that is akin to music. At the heart of it all is jazz. Jazz, the manipulation of breath— the unleashing of breath, the holding of breath, the destruction of breath. The most basic unit of jazz is the swing and the breath. My primary influence is the Beat movement and I think my initial fascination for them was rather hinged on the wrong reasons: the radical visual arrangement of lines on the page, the profanity and the absurdity that struck my mind as a welcome relief from the stultifying archaisms of 17th-century English poetry force-fed on us by high school teachers. Here was, at long last, literature that spoke to me. It was in sympathy with the energy of free jazz and punk rock records that I was listening to at that time. Through the lyrics of punk rock and hardcore records, I had an inkling of how words can be more powerful than a guitar amplifier cranked up all the way to ten. My exposure to the poetry of Ginsberg and Kerouac opened me up to the world of possibilities. And I am obsessed with the idea of ‘possibility’. ‘Possibility’ is what art is all about. It is the constant wrestling with forms, styles, and structures. It is the idea that something better is always out there. It is about discontent. It is about discontent with the safe, the middling, the accepted, and the acceptable.”
He has thrice been a recipient of a Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Award for Literature - A Third prize in essay (English division) in 1999, a second prize in the same category in 2003; and a first prize in teleplay (Filipino division) in 2004.
When the hardcore punk band Dead Ends ended their 4 year hiatus, he became the band's lead guitarist in 1994, thus making Dead Ends a four piece band. Then, they recorded their comeback and final album, the influential Mamatay sa Ingay(1994), it was a different sound than their past materials, it was more of a crossover-thrash approach. When Dead Ends disbanded in 1996(because of Jay Dimalanta's passing). He also became a member of Al Dimalanta's new band Throw, with his brother Francis playing the bass.
De Veyra graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from the University of Santo Tomas.
As literary influences, de Veyra cites Beat movement writers such as Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac. He explains, speaking as a fellow at the 45th UP National Writers Workshop:
“What I look for in poetry is an uneasy kind of energy. An energy that is already beyond the configuration of words and then assumes a density that is akin to music. At the heart of it all is jazz. Jazz, the manipulation of breath— the unleashing of breath, the holding of breath, the destruction of breath. The most basic unit of jazz is the swing and the breath. My primary influence is the Beat movement and I think my initial fascination for them was rather hinged on the wrong reasons: the radical visual arrangement of lines on the page, the profanity and the absurdity that struck my mind as a welcome relief from the stultifying archaisms of 17th-century English poetry force-fed on us by high school teachers. Here was, at long last, literature that spoke to me. It was in sympathy with the energy of free jazz and punk rock records that I was listening to at that time. Through the lyrics of punk rock and hardcore records, I had an inkling of how words can be more powerful than a guitar amplifier cranked up all the way to ten. My exposure to the poetry of Ginsberg and Kerouac opened me up to the world of possibilities. And I am obsessed with the idea of ‘possibility’. ‘Possibility’ is what art is all about. It is the constant wrestling with forms, styles, and structures. It is the idea that something better is always out there. It is about discontent. It is about discontent with the safe, the middling, the accepted, and the acceptable.”
He has thrice been a recipient of a Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Award for Literature - A Third prize in essay (English division) in 1999, a second prize in the same category in 2003; and a first prize in teleplay (Filipino division) in 2004.
When the hardcore punk band Dead Ends ended their 4 year hiatus, he became the band's lead guitarist in 1994, thus making Dead Ends a four piece band. Then, they recorded their comeback and final album, the influential Mamatay sa Ingay(1994), it was a different sound than their past materials, it was more of a crossover-thrash approach. When Dead Ends disbanded in 1996(because of Jay Dimalanta's passing). He also became a member of Al Dimalanta's new band Throw, with his brother Francis playing the bass.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
August 8, 2022
Published in the Philippines, Lourd’s poems reflect on what’s presently going on in the Philippines. Honest, irreverent, absurd, and at times, funny, these poems reflect on the pervading injustice in Philippine politics, reflections on violence toward who is perceived as ‘the other,’ the war on drugs, dictatorship, how all of it affects its victims under its rule.
Some poems question the commercialization of religion/God, how it has been used to control people, how far it has drifted from actual faith.
There are searing observations on poverty, drawing out eye-opening perspectives, intertwining these observations with out of all things, duct tape.
As someone who currently lives in the States, there were a lot of references that I needed to take time to process. I found myself constantly searching online for real-life events a lot of the poems refer to. Some were familiar, a lot were new to me. As someone who was born and raised in Manila, I honestly don’t even know how to describe what I felt after finishing. Maybe something like thankful for the eye-opening perspective, but also thankful it was said with sarcasm and dark humor.
Most notable poems for me were “Pascual Racuyal, President of the Republic of the Philippines” and “A Manual for Burning Cathedrals.”
Some poems question the commercialization of religion/God, how it has been used to control people, how far it has drifted from actual faith.
There are searing observations on poverty, drawing out eye-opening perspectives, intertwining these observations with out of all things, duct tape.
As someone who currently lives in the States, there were a lot of references that I needed to take time to process. I found myself constantly searching online for real-life events a lot of the poems refer to. Some were familiar, a lot were new to me. As someone who was born and raised in Manila, I honestly don’t even know how to describe what I felt after finishing. Maybe something like thankful for the eye-opening perspective, but also thankful it was said with sarcasm and dark humor.
Most notable poems for me were “Pascual Racuyal, President of the Republic of the Philippines” and “A Manual for Burning Cathedrals.”
February 26, 2021
A dark and edgy collection of poems written by Lourd De Veyra that paints a picture of the Philippines today: war on drugs, poverty, injustice, bad politics, crime and a lot more. It's like seeing the country through his words. He also sprinkled the book with his sharp and no holds barred opinion through poetry. The book is also adorned with drawings of Paul Eric Roca that perfectly captures the ominous and demonic theming of the book. The demonic theme of the book is let's say deep for me because it metaphors the Philippines as a living hell with all the things that are happening (okay, I'm getting too political hahaha). This book is very timely and its worth to give a shot in reading.
March 19, 2022
Totally enjoyed this book, and got mistaken to be a part of a satanic group.
February 8, 2023
I haven't the faintest idea what to say about this whole collection except it punched me in the face. Was it good? Not sure. Was it bad? I don't know.
June 13, 2021
Marka Demonyo, an indictment of the fragments of grotesque in our society today. I don't know if I have the right to say this: This is what we should read, much of what we need and deserve to read in our existential crisis.
Each poem has its own precision; it'll become more immersive in a sense, because we are currently living during the reign of incompetent government, incompetent public officials, power-tripping, and other societal issues that many of us are being pushed to the edge.
And the other poems would make you cling to a momentum of silence. Like hearing a little chicken pecking on the glass of a casket, a superstitious belief of knocking into the culprit's conscience, gunshots from out of nowhere, or a blaring guitar riff from prominent punk bands.
The following are my favourite poems from this collection.
—marka demonyo
—music is haram
—the angel of death wears a motorcycle helmet
—lantern
—kalookan druggie prays to jesus malverde
—shabu is d' most dangerous drags history of solor system
—the adobo christ
—fisting
—michael bay reimagines bernal's himala
—when the hour of death arrives
—we know where you live, asshole
—the police station janitor's breakfast
—talumpanay variations
Line from the poetry book that really struck me that, “Tragedy is a place where nobody changes the channel.”
Each poem has its own precision; it'll become more immersive in a sense, because we are currently living during the reign of incompetent government, incompetent public officials, power-tripping, and other societal issues that many of us are being pushed to the edge.
And the other poems would make you cling to a momentum of silence. Like hearing a little chicken pecking on the glass of a casket, a superstitious belief of knocking into the culprit's conscience, gunshots from out of nowhere, or a blaring guitar riff from prominent punk bands.
The following are my favourite poems from this collection.
—marka demonyo
—music is haram
—the angel of death wears a motorcycle helmet
—lantern
—kalookan druggie prays to jesus malverde
—shabu is d' most dangerous drags history of solor system
—the adobo christ
—fisting
—michael bay reimagines bernal's himala
—when the hour of death arrives
—we know where you live, asshole
—the police station janitor's breakfast
—talumpanay variations
Line from the poetry book that really struck me that, “Tragedy is a place where nobody changes the channel.”
January 12, 2025
2.5 rounded down
to defend myself i should say that i am a big fan of lourd de veyra and WOTL and his art and radioactive sago and kapitan kulam but...
some of these are painfully edgy (reading lang leav my fucking head explodes, rejoinder to miss kondo, hugot, michael bay reimagines bernal's himala, fisting) and i dont know if it adds much to this collection. but it redeems itself because it is funny
funnily enough all the poems about shabu are really good (still life with aluminum foil, shabu is d' most dangerous drags history of solor system, ). this is true with his poems about the war on drugs
a lot of reused metaphors in here -- especially shabu and tin foil, or cathedrals burning. the amount of shabu references in this book makes me think the author probably either doesnt know much about shabu or that he knows it enough because he does it himself lol. some of these i recognize, like the pancit in random goon in action movie shot randomly from the music video of "astro" by radioactive sago project. I dunno. i like the "ang sining ay walang saysay" sentiment from his one poem which is just like his tedx talk!
almost cut myself there...
to defend myself i should say that i am a big fan of lourd de veyra and WOTL and his art and radioactive sago and kapitan kulam but...
some of these are painfully edgy (reading lang leav my fucking head explodes, rejoinder to miss kondo, hugot, michael bay reimagines bernal's himala, fisting) and i dont know if it adds much to this collection. but it redeems itself because it is funny
funnily enough all the poems about shabu are really good (still life with aluminum foil, shabu is d' most dangerous drags history of solor system, ). this is true with his poems about the war on drugs
a lot of reused metaphors in here -- especially shabu and tin foil, or cathedrals burning. the amount of shabu references in this book makes me think the author probably either doesnt know much about shabu or that he knows it enough because he does it himself lol. some of these i recognize, like the pancit in random goon in action movie shot randomly from the music video of "astro" by radioactive sago project. I dunno. i like the "ang sining ay walang saysay" sentiment from his one poem which is just like his tedx talk!
May poetry brighten your solitude, / May it cut through the dark like a candle, / May it fall to the floor / And burn down your fucking house.
almost cut myself there...
15. Elsa declares, "Walang himala... I... AM... MEGATRON!" She transforms into a gigantic gun.
16. Within a five-kilometer radius she destroys everyone.
August 8, 2025
Well: I picked up this book because I love The Radioactive Sago Project and Lourd de Veyra. I knew nothing of this book; what hooked me was the title. I found it funny at first then I read Ostinato with Exit Wounds. From then on I knew what “duct tape” was referring to.
This book is—and not even fully describing it—brutal. At times it’s comedic, at times it’s absurd, at times it’s downright morbid. Most of the time, it’s edgy, dirty, brutal. Which makes sense given the political situation that birthed these poems. You can’t really blame the poems or the poet for being edgy when the poems are children’s literature compared to the reality outside of pen-and-paper.
I hope he writes more poetry in Filipino (similar to his band), I would eat it up, brutally.
My Favorites:
Ostinato with Exit Wounds
The Multitudinous Uses of Duct Tape
Manila’s Finest
Fisting
Michael Bay Reimagines Bernal’s Himal
Shabu is D’Most Dangerous Drags History of Solar System
The Police Station Janitor’s Breakfast
Movement Constant
Letras y Figuras
This book is—and not even fully describing it—brutal. At times it’s comedic, at times it’s absurd, at times it’s downright morbid. Most of the time, it’s edgy, dirty, brutal. Which makes sense given the political situation that birthed these poems. You can’t really blame the poems or the poet for being edgy when the poems are children’s literature compared to the reality outside of pen-and-paper.
I hope he writes more poetry in Filipino (similar to his band), I would eat it up, brutally.
My Favorites:
Ostinato with Exit Wounds
The Multitudinous Uses of Duct Tape
Manila’s Finest
Fisting
Michael Bay Reimagines Bernal’s Himal
Shabu is D’Most Dangerous Drags History of Solar System
The Police Station Janitor’s Breakfast
Movement Constant
Letras y Figuras
October 14, 2021
I'm a fan of Lourd De Veyra ever since I watched his WOTL. I follow his songs from radioactive sago project until now Kapitan Kulam-Lourd's new band. I watched his speeches in different universities and interviews. But I'm not an avid and delusional fan like those who loves K POP to the point that they are dreaming to salacious lick the abs of their Idol/s. BTW Lourd don't have abs.
No one cares...…..Should I review this?
I loved how Lourd wrote those verses. When I did not understand some of them, I wait and inhale until the soul of knowledge and enlightenment enters in my egocentric mind and body. For me, some of the verses are heavy to digest.
A Poem that discusses the political and social condition.
Digest it like eating an expensive caviar and saffron. You will cry like your TITA watching a meaningful telenovela.
No one cares...…..Should I review this?
I loved how Lourd wrote those verses. When I did not understand some of them, I wait and inhale until the soul of knowledge and enlightenment enters in my egocentric mind and body. For me, some of the verses are heavy to digest.
A Poem that discusses the political and social condition.
Digest it like eating an expensive caviar and saffron. You will cry like your TITA watching a meaningful telenovela.
December 4, 2020
Lourd shares his most honest and raw views about the Philippine society. Each poem is straightforward, some poems are not meant to be read today, others might need a little bit of "Googling" about the subjects so they can have the best laughter, and some poems are very touching. I always love Lourd's sarcasm and I will always love his mind.
July 15, 2025
Some were too dark for me, but amazed at his wit and talent.
Favorite : “Here’s a glass
To excess, to words, to clutter
To cacophony, cornucopia, collect…
Look outside: sunlight spilled on an empty field”
and thanks for introducing me to Wisława Szymborska
Favorite : “Here’s a glass
To excess, to words, to clutter
To cacophony, cornucopia, collect…
Look outside: sunlight spilled on an empty field”
and thanks for introducing me to Wisława Szymborska
March 14, 2022
It's a book about the author's morbid and sharp take on the current philippine society through poetry. Some folks may find some of the poems hard to digest. Overall, it's an interesting read.
January 6, 2025
*Second edition*
This collection of poems will make you feel different emotions, but there are some poems here that were just okay. Lourd de Veyra never fails his readers to keep reading his works.
This collection of poems will make you feel different emotions, but there are some poems here that were just okay. Lourd de Veyra never fails his readers to keep reading his works.
January 20, 2025
excellent poems that reflect the political state of the philippines
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews