From the morning to the evening
Fresh young hearts were set to burning
With desire; pain and sadness yet to know.
He my lover first to waken
Mind and body, my heart taken,
Then set to match, see how the embers glow.
My hand he takes and places
On his...
You are the Past
I’ve annihilated
To save
Myself.
In my slumber
You took root
Inside me
Against my will,
Tangled tentacles
Of a poisoned love
Long dead.
I ripped out
Your tortured spirit
To exorcise you
From my consciousness.
In you
My absence
Became an emptiness
That screams
In silence.
The echoes resonate
In my soul -
The half of me
That dwells in you.
Yet...
Tired eyes shut in deep slumber
Glass beads wound
Around clasped hands
I dare not disturb her peace
The flickering light
Of mourning candles
Bring back memories
Of cold gray mornings
Apo baket keeping watch
Beside the three-stone hearth
Inabel blanket wrapped
Around her bony frame
I catch a whiff
Of her nicotine breath
As she massages...
Is it imperative to run through along
when the countdown starts at ten, until I take
the plunge, bring myself forward,
ask which intent yields the least red flags
I come undone to commit a list of selves
I desire being for the year approaching
and learn: this self,...
And while it’s true
that knowledge of self is
required before you can
love, truly love, you must
also have a healthy
faith in the unknown,
an appreciation for
the wind that blows
from you know not where,
that stirs the sea and
leads it to strange shores
where you may never see
the sky...
You were a stray looking to survive
Out on the streets walking day and night
Your asphalt bed may give you some rest
Yet you dream of loving arms and kisses
And a home to call your nest.
Your dark fur, glazed with a golden sheen
Shines in the...
Wind from the lake below
Has brought the fine rain
That wet the stair railings
Between classrooms on Makiling.
As I step out after class,
The cold droplets cling...
This is how you make sinigang:
Take a kilo of buto-buto,
wash it under running water.
Use your fingertips
to grope each piece
for stray shards of bone,
and don’t...