By Jonathan Aquino
I.
Any fool can carry a weapon
and even a coward can kill.
I told the warrior as he rose,
drawing his sword as I sat still,
unmoved as death draws near.
II.
He told who he was and how dare I,
I did and there is no need,...
By Sigrid Gayangos
When nights simmered like a lazy summer day,
and months went on without rain,
the ancient ones of Samboangan swim up
to the shore, take off
their scaly clothes, fins and tails,
and tested the land’s hospitality.
But these ancient ones, these fish-folks,
always felt vulnerable on land,
confused...
by Earl Carlo Guevarra
Back when I was a child
I thought revolution was a product
Of blood, sweat, tears and steel
I thought that it was about rallies
And rousing speeches
Laced with tales of bravery and defiance
Maybe a column of tanks here and there
And someone blocking the...
A picture of yourself
Standing on a locked door
Hand dives in that shallow bag
Which can barely move in the
Seafloor of wires.
Strangled with thick and thin
Chargers that actually drains
Black and white chords
Which disconnects from reality
Earphones that shuts the noisy mind
An escape, you said
Yet...
I have never been to a general hospital
alone before: sitting on one of the plastic benches
shoulder to shoulder with faces stuck on the Now
Serving sign above all four counters I can see
it is I am a no big deal I am. Just another...
I wish you’d let me write my poetry.
My words, stuck between pen and paper
Never allowing your sight through
My lines, your ears on my untelling
Story. Precisely because you see,
Hear, and feel me that I cannot
Call upon you. So leave me
With words to speak, transcending
Walls,...
My holiday wishesAs I gazeInto the wideOpen oceanIn the islandOf my birth
Save that giftAnd reserve itFor the hungryand the homelessIn the South.
Save the soundOf...
When you wound a leather sofa
with the forbidden razor blade,
you see no cut but a blooming,
cotton pulp breaches skin, first peeps
and bursts out almost...