The Philippines Graphic Reader
The first and only nationally-circulated magazine on Philippine literature in English
LET YOUR SHORT STORY OR POEM SHINE!
Philippines Graphic Reader
There Will Be Poems that Escape Our Catching
Grace
The many tremors comeunannounced, but we knowthey are coming. The old earthgives way and soft papayasare on the ground. Lemongrassfills the air and everywhere...
Philippines Graphic Reader
Where the Missing Things Go
“What the—?” Sky’s hand stalled inside the bag, fingers grazing the lining like it might bite.
The leather was a tired brown, the kind that...
Philippines Graphic Reader
Canned Sardines
Red, orange and brownYour lunch, your dinnerYou don’t have a choiceFor it’s your only fare now
It’s now on sale in storesBuy now; it’s buy...
Philippines Graphic Reader
Grandmother Cooking
Mamay, here you are soaking the soft riceAnd wrapping them in the leaves tender, darkenedDarkened by the tiniest flame that you whispered to.The bundles...
Philippines Graphic Reader
The Hunted Hunter: A Wild Boar-ing Turn of Events
Armed with a rifle and overflowing with a warrior’s confidence, my classmate's brother marched into the woods, excited about his unforgettable first solo hunt....
Philippines Graphic Reader
Things My Cat Ate
Not the red ball of yarn I threw at her,a lizard’s tail,the bright threads of a woolen rag,a fish head, some greens that felloff...
Philippines Graphic Reader
The Igorot Sky
Lander left our community church on the first Sunday of the year. Three years ago, I did the same thing. After college, I wanted...
Philippines Graphic Reader
Darning
When all is done, Mama shows mehow to knot the final stitch, carefulnot to tug too tightly at the thread.The doctor must have performedthe...
Philippines Graphic Reader
Iteration of a Theme’s Variation
End with everything. Keep nothing. Then own it all again.Find a bad man on a good day. Lose a worse man,then reclaim five friends...
Philippines Graphic Reader
On A Day Like This
There is an old Japanese film called Okuribito, which Marvin once told him about in a hospital room as if recommending a comedy. In...
Philippines Graphic Reader
You, Too, Are a Pilgrim
“Look!” she exclaimed. I followed her clue toward the glinting blue, and I saw a flock of birds on an expedition. As if on...
Philippines Graphic Reader
The Sanctuary
The church stood alone and abandoned at the edge of the town, an old structure built with weathered stone walls darkened by years of...
Philippines Graphic Reader
Thank you
They came before the day began,before I was ready to be seen.Pink lilies, shyly unfoldingagainst the raindrops of morning.Too early,and yet, how touching,that someone...
Philippines Graphic Reader
Read Receipts
My phone slipped from her grasp, clattering against the tiled floor. The impact was a muted thud, not strong enough to shatter what had already fallen.
Not...
Philippines Graphic Reader
The Floating Library (The Inheritance)
The humidity in Manila wrapped around Lia De Castro like a damp shawl as she stepped out of the National Library, a worn satchel...
Philippines Graphic Reader
Mori Dress
People always say that she is beautiful, that she exudes an ethereal radiance only she is privy to. It’s…this strange, brilliant glow that has...
Philippines Graphic Reader
The Father’s Daughter
It was the day I turned eighteen the day when I learned that silence could scream a thousand truths. The afternoon gleam at five...
