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Philippines Graphic Reader
Indelible Stains
It is Saturday morning. I am down on all fours on the bathroom floor. My hair is kept up by a plastic clamp; my face, bare. Keeping everything pristine is my compulsion. Today is no exception. Using a rag soaked in Zonrox, I...
Binondo Church
For its brick walls were blotched with rednessLike a child with a high grown fever,The tolling of its bells, bounty and scared.
The plaza on its façade, a space of endearmentFor the taho vendors in selling their drinkable breakfastAnd the jeepneys whose wheels turning...
Ninay and the Spirits
The summer Ninay turned ten, her elder sister told her that she should learn to help around the house. Housework should be done the perfect way, her sister said. “No mess. No noise. No clutter.” But Ninay accidentally dropped plates, cups or spoons...
Unbreakable
Exact is not the word; the hurting is felt in many places. - Joel Toledo
Mending is necessary as these respites from fragility will no longer do.
Mind the volume dial as it floods you with constants and firmitude.
Long before right from wrong: language stolen...
Life According to Marlin
My name is Juan Marlin Madero and everyone thought I killed my father.
When the policemen drove me over to the Oslob Police Station yesterday morning, they clamored among their squad for the return of the death penalty for people like me.
Only a...
Of Sunrises and Sunsets
1
Night falls
I hear crickets
And the sound of waves
As the sea marks
A quiet day
Towards a somber weekend
2
I have lived with face masks
And face shields
For years
And where did they get me?
I learned to greet
With muffled voice
And learned to smile
With my own eyes
I learned how to...
