Gigantes Island, central archipelago. Summertime. Young Benjamin, on vacation with his kin, is standing by the seaside inhaling the crisp breeze of the easterlies,...
Charito's pace slowed as she neared Barbara's, the renowned restaurant in Intramuros that is next to the centuries-old San Agustin Church. The cobblestone streets...
Tell me there is no death.
But simply a change in dimension
Worlds divided by linear comprehension.
Worlds made invisible by mortal measure.
Tell me it is but...
-1-
Azalea stood in the dimly-lit alley, the cold night air biting her skin. She clutched a tattered piece of paper with an address scribbled on it, her last hope. The door creaked open, revealing a man in a sharp suit, his eyes scanning...
I see a scarecrow
On the yellow moon
By the window
Of the third kind
Woman or man
I ought to know
I look to the left
It shifts to the right
Towards Venus
I look to the right
It pivots to the left
Away from Polaris
But the night
Out of the spotlight
Restarts daylight
As the plane prepared for the final descent, I could see Lap Kok’s blaze of lights. For a while it seemed the universe had inverted itself and heaped its billions of stars into this tiny former British colony. This was my first trip...
A Dirge
(Majayjay-Lucban Road,
June 16, 2024)
How swift the shift
from Thalia’s smile
to Melpomene’s frown.
One moment, Jack
was about to crack
a joke. Then smack
into our bus the trike
smashed, a deadly
strike. Traffic crawled
at the bloody spectacle
of the sprawled body
splayed in a strange
angle. Dazed in shock,
I brace myself
for a...
“I envy all of them.” I greatly pitied myself for just observing what was happening around me. Sitting up straight in my bed, I saw from my window, a bunch of kids playing with a ball outside the hospital. I saw them kicking...
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 to forgive sinners. Yet it is also a demanding gospel, for it shows that being a follower of Christ...