Before the second episode of the Philippines Graphic Literary Workshop (PGLW) concluded on March 21, we knew that we had one more thing that we can offer our bright young fellows: a starting platform for their creative endeavors. Here, we present one of their final outputs from the workshop. We also asked them to provide an artwork that they think best represents their stories. Read on.
When I lost my first tooth,
I was robbed of the chance
to sleep with it under my pillow.
The tooth fairy that I live with
does not like garbage lying around
the confines of this white-walled house.
My first tooth would have belonged
in the trash bin, where it would turn
yellow and rot like the banana peels,
where it would be reminded
that it is temporary, that it was
once used then discarded,
and that it will eventually join
the weekly sacrifice of dead leaves,
join the stench of plastic burning
in the various corners of this
small subdivision, unknowing
where we really are from—
but this is my first tooth.
I evade the tooth fairy’s sly hands,
hid it at the bottom of my music box,
under the mountain of rusty keychains,
where it would still yellow, still rot,
but will be found again when the day comes
that I finally clean my bedroom
many, many years later,
I finally put it under my pillow
and slept thinking of childhood.
I wake up the next morning,
and squinted at the window
to see the clouds parting.
Written by Charlize Ann Lavaztida
