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Philippines Graphic Reader

The Visitor at Dusk

The night still outshone the day when Ms. Angeles, a public school teacher at Sagisag Elementary School, woke up in her bed. The crow of the roosters and the chorus of the crickets were the only noise. In her cabinet hung her uniform...

While I Still Can

Let me, please I beg of you Let me catch the whiff of fresh air Against my cheeks The first ray of sunshine As new day breaks As it kisses the grass Green on my barefoot   Before it filters through The stained glass windows Bearing memories of a blurry past Let me step...

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The children of the town had once belonged to the streets. Their laughter rattled off the cracked sidewalks, their games stretched across alleys and fields, and dusk was a sign, not for disconnection, but for one more round of hide-and-seek or patintero, a...

On Womanhood

Being a woman is thrust upon you. You walk under stars and suddenly casually, make a fist in your pocket and hold your key—like a weapon. It is keen awareness of fabric length, and clenched assessment of skin, padlocks, mirrors, stopping cars, of home routes, and drink offers. Being a woman is weighing the chances of...

Vic Pura

An author is confronted by the protagonist of her 32nd fiction. She had written a story about the incident, more or less an undisguised one, populated by the same characters with little or no changes in name. I followed suit and just used one...

Birder

In celebration of the October 4 feast of St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of the environment and all of God's creatures. Eyes follow the sound Ears scan the foliage Breath on hold Heart gripped still Mind wiped clear like the sky in the lake To await The moment The presence. A...

Random Pickings

GRANDSON OF BAYAWAK

I have been bullied since I was a kid. People have been calling me the grandson of bayawak. I never knew why such a...

Three New Poems

The Demanding Gospel For Sunil Stephens “Luke’s Gospel is a gospel of mercy; it emphasizes Jesus’ identification with the poor and the lowly, and His willingness...

The Old Trees Deep in Manila

It’s on Sunday mornings, When I walk toward stores To replenish a week’s supply of grocery items, That I see you. Old surviving trees. The dignified narra, The unfurling dapdap, And...

Tinnitus 

I  It started out innocently. One casual greeting at a time, a nod of recognition from across the room, a synchronized laugh. None of it...