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Poetry

On Sundays…and Belonging

On Sundays and belonging,And when I used to mess around with Lolo’s typewriter:Clicking and clacking the worn-out buttons, it is legacySounding against my stubby child fingers. You would often tell me stories about Mindoro:Of your father and the town hall—how he would walk a...

Tropical Sundews

this is the timewhen the greens are greener than beforeas above so belowthe midges regret worshippingthe false god of all false beingsthe dewdrops and dropletsof this rainforest in early mornings they longed what it felt to prayand kneel before a deityears forgiven they could...

In One of My Lives, I Became A Drone

so I asked the queen ant: “beforeI mate with your young queen, may Iat least have the indulgence ofmating with all of the femaleants here, since I’m the last maletoday and they probably need me?” And the queen ant said, “it is use-less, you...

Naked

I’ll wear nothingbut my trembling desirethe wild beat of my pulsethe lingering whispers of my past. I’ll wear nothingbut the ache of my lost love the sweet sigh of my first joy The ecstatic cry of happiness. I’ll wear nothing but the fire in my eyesnaked in your...

Grandma

Her hands quiver from sustained pressing of the beads. When her voice starts to rise, the light of the kerosene lamp amplifies from an entirely lambent glow, illuminating the details of her room. Mound of frass and dead winged ants on the altar; archaic cross nailed askew on a bole. Might these, however...

Inverted Horizons

The sea and the sky Swap their eternities The waves with the clouds And everywhere Fishes fly birds swim Farmers cast seines Fishers sow seeds Waterways counterflow Waterfalls go into reverse All of this unbeknown To Siri Alexa and Cortana.

Random Pickings

nothing has changed only the forms of it

nothing has changed only the forms of it when we wedded the struggle brought us before a mayor who joked, run as fast as you can don’t let the dictator catch you

Tropical Sundews

this is the timewhen the greens are greener than beforeas above so belowthe midges regret worshippingthe false god of all false beingsthe dewdrops and...

Excerpts from Aswang Love

The following poems are part of an in-progress novel-in-poems that tells the story of two aswang lovers. Clara is a manananggal vampire and Santiago...

Lakeview Sunday

Once the lake water was salty.History points to a volcano islanderupting and cutting offan inlet intothe open sea.The town natives still referto this lake...