In the middle of the park,
I am a pink and smooth baby –
my mother manages to put santan
in my fists, the grass makes me rash
like hell and I scratch it out —
nails like needles, my skin turns
the same shade as the flowers
I’m molding into necklaces.
I have sucked in so much sap
that I am practically made
out of the flower.
Dig a hole in the earth, stick me in,
and some life with red petals,
sweet sap, and tough leaves
will grow in my place.
Grace Torrecampo
Grace Torrecampo is a 24-year-old Creative Writing student at the University of the Philippines Diliman. She studied in U.P. Baguio and settled back in her native Quezon City after a year. She dyed half of her hair blue during that time and she regrets it to this day.
