YOU NEVER FELT so secure before…. Hovering above the now-unshackled pristine and fertile triangular island of 1566 Bamban were familiar crimson cumulus clouds. Fresh off the ships, the towering yet mapuraw bangús-white people—with broken Bisaya—claim that the Sicily-like land, brimming with oyster shells...
In our August 2022 issue, novices and veterans share their literary works.
Read multi-awarded poet, fictionist, and essayist ROWENA TIEMPO TORREVILLAS’ poem “AWA-AO (for Gemino Abad)” and “Maranatha” from poet MILA AGUILAR
SHORT STORIES“Say My Name” by Tansi Ajette P. Gabriel“The Rag Dolls” by...
Pluviophile. She had to look that word up because she wanted to know if there was a term to describe people like her.
People who love the rain, according to Google. People who find joy and peace of mind in rainy days.
She didn’t know...
I have been bullied since I was a kid. People have been calling me the grandson of bayawak. I never knew why such a name has become a part of me. From the time I grew up, I have been called bayawak. I...
“And it never failed that during the dry years the people forgot about the rich years, and during the wet years they lost all memory of the dry years. It was always that way.”—John Steinbeck, East of Eden
Our city offers a beautiful scene,...
San Francisco, back in the day, was everyone’s favorite city, ‘the city that knows how,’ cosmopolitan city by the bay, where one grew up with musicians and artists and writers walking its steep and windy streets in almost every neighborhood. This is a...
(Thinking of my daughter on her first death anniversary)
It is a recurring thoughtAs lightsCast a shadowOn a familiar bookIn my gardenOn a restlessEarly morning.
What...
He awoke at dawn. Silvery light filtered through the paper-thin fabric of the handkerchief covering his eyes. His limbs were sore from being squeezed...
Flowers grew in the cracks
of the gardener’s calloused hands
as she glanced at the garden she cultivates
She never wanted to disrupt their growth,
yet they need...