this is the time
when the greens are greener than before
as above so below
the midges regret worshipping
the false god of all false beings
the dewdrops and droplets
of this rainforest in early mornings

they longed what it felt to pray
and kneel before a deity
ears forgiven they could hear
the birds singing in unison
in a gargantuan tone
sacred than they did before

inside a cage that resembled a home
time died,
the home resembled the cage
now luminous,
the freedom resembled the sun

all that is left
a bait and the exoskeletons of yesterdays
basking in velvet lure
under a dainty sky
the kiss felt the teeth

so, the bug wishes again
what it felt like to be a slug
doused in honey
sitting on a blade
a thousandfold favored
by nature, and its paramour
they’re tulips abloom
in their own fervent night

yet a wish will remain a wish
and feminine is always divine
the hook has now caught a fish
hibiscus have now been
pollinated by the hive
to live is to break free
from the rosettes
the toxin stings
sure, it is
like how this haven is spiked

John Mark G. Parlingayan is from Polomolok, South Cotabato. His works have appeared in Sulat Sox, Cotabato Literary Journal, Anak Sastra, KITAAB International, and the Philippine Daily Inquirer. He was a finalist in the 2022 Blue-White Dot Short Story Prize. His short fiction, “The Thumb Sucker,” was included in the anthology The Pathbreakers and Other Stories, published in Malaysia.

John Mark G. Parlingayan

John Mark G. Parlingayan is from Polomolok, South Cotabato. His works have appeared in Sulat Sox, Cotabato Literary Journal, Anak Sastra, KITAAB International, and the Philippine Daily Inquirer. He was a finalist in the 2022 Blue-White Dot Short Story Prize. His short fiction, "The Thumb Sucker," was included in the anthology The Pathbreakers and Other Stories, published in Malaysia.