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Philippines Graphic Reader

The Bandit Who Banished the Aswangs

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...

PHILIPPINES GRAPHIC READER August 2022

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...

Only When It Rains

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...

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 name has become a part of me. From the time I grew up, I have been called bayawak. I...

Penalty of our Frailties

“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,...

Prelude to a Gig

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...

Random Pickings

Shadow in the Garden

(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...

A King Lear in Cage

Trekking the road to house of aged, those grown feeble, fatuous to outside world. I come as servant to bring that which is longed for to nourish...

Palaspas

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...

The Gardener

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...