you only water
the plants when you need them to
flower and bear fruit

tell me where, tell me
when I can find happiness —
so I can go there

W,

I kept thinking —
it'll be easier
if I get hit by a car

instead of going to work.

Love,
ML

am I good for you?
I'm not even good for me
— just think about that

what we see as change
when green summer leaves turn brown
is really just growth

our time came and went
like the few seconds of peace
in-between bullets

the world's a tightrope —
I fear nothing when we're each
other's counterweight

W,

I don't think I'll ever trust you with my heart again.

Love,
ML

wrong sh_t all the time
a fish is caught in its mouth
I'M the f_cking fish

got so depressed in
the middle of changing sheets
I slept without one
                                   (for months)

I'm gravitated
like rain from a thundercloud
falling to the earth

always a lone chair
at every table — am I
meant to be alone?

to my summer breeze
heavy rain and quiet night —
lie down next to me

she can be water
GENTLE, or wine, SPIRITED
— here I am, THIRSTY

sun's hot, water's wet —
and skin was just skin until
I saw it on you

to see you smile like
Sakaguchi Kentaro —
is my sun and sky

getting rid of your
memories made new ones in
need of forgetting

lights on or lights off —
does it really matter, when
either way we'll smash

we're to meet at noon
I stepped out, hand on the gate
the sign says
                          WET PAINT‎

nowadays I read
myself like it's in 𝕷𝖆𝖙𝖎𝖓
in M---rse, and spɹɐʍʞɔɐq

summer sun, high noon
little boy tied to a tree
it's midnight, full moon

yeah, I'm twenty-eight
next year I'll be twenty-nine
— nasa'n ka na ba?

I step to my right
approaching girl hesitates
she steps to her left

I can work under
pressure — is it your job to
put pressure on me?

sun-kissed valley wind
train to Madrid's not here yet
— want a cerveza

sit in the shadow
look at those pale, lovely hills
— let's have anisette

there is a void in
his shape within me — and there
are these spaces he
left wide open — places that
I have not learned to close yet

I used to want to
have kids, but no, not in this
dire economy‎

this war I am in
has a white flag, tied to the
barrel of a gun

is there someone else?
she asked. I told her, yes, this
time, ako muna
          (I'm choosing me)

how can you see stars
when you close your eyes shut, but
not when you're awake

just thinking about
how little sleep I will get
keeps me up at night

I cannot help but
notice how that thing between
your legs listen when
my tongue writes long letters and
my lips do all the talking

oh how I wish to
be kissed like I'm his first and
last lung-full of air

'di ko na naman
nakuha 'yung gusto ko
— nas'an ka na ba?

these shifting shadows
of streetlight-lit leaves make it
hard to walk home
                                     d         u          k
                                           r          n

you speak with your eyes
and love with your hands and mouth
can't help but listen

isn't it lovely
the moon is afire — can I
hold your hand, and stay

though the night is deep
and the moon is alight — please
hold my hand, and stay

every time you get
your heart broken, gather the
pieces, collect each
tile — SHARP ENOUGH to CUT — and
make a beautiful mosaic

ᴵ you feel the water
rising inches at a time
until you're neck-deep

ᴵᴵ you're underwater
telling yourself that you can
always hold your breath

ᴵᴵᴵ you've been under for
so long, you forgot what air
feels like in your lungs

ᴵⱽ but as the sea claims
the land every high tide — you
claimed the sea as yours

ⱽ you wake up in an
underwater castle that
you built with your hands

looking at your eyes
I welcome your gentle breath
warming both my cheeks

if they find rest in
somebody else, does it mean
           it's you they're tired of

like the constant tug
of February 30
I end up c𖦹nfused

will the only time
I get rest — and peace — is when
I'm but grey ashes

you only listen
when you hear the alcohol
talking — in anguish

they say, LIFE is a
                 PARTY! — maybe it is, and
                                     I'm an introvert

days — blurry, nights — hazed
time poured in a glass-like stream
unremarkably

from that moment on
I was no longer just mine —
I knew I was yours