the thing about it —
walking for miles with storm clouds
overhead is that
the sun becomes a distant
memory, and the shade — home

you, who asked me if
I already brushed my teeth —
I said I'd prove it
when you come closer and taste
the mint from my very tongue

Mondays are for things
often left open from the
night before — close me

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

muffle every groan
and moan,
                     and whimper,
                                                 and sigh
with your mouth on mine

you make sense — like a
warm mug of matcha latte
on a rainy day
                      門

words scatter like wind
and hover above my head
in a nameless cloud

I might as well live
in my very own country
— PROCRASTINATION

of GRAVITATION —
I want you near just as much
as you want me close

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

you wear my shirt from
the night before like it's your
turn to fill my space

to savor and taste
where there was only hunger
just the night before

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

I thought I needed
you — for me to be happy —
turns out I only
needed you to be happy —
no matter where that leaves me

let me
want your future —
   one that's
   certain and sturdy
and need your now —
   where we're
   calm and quiet

where waking up
   doesn't hurt
   anymore
   because it's
   no longer
   just
   a dream

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

I'm always stealing
glances and end up getting
lost in your eyes, or
is it the ocean — to be
honest, what's the difference

right hand seeks the lamp
left arm — numb with you in it
I wake up alone

when you are driving
don't slow down when the light's green
do so when it's orange

to those who told me
they did it for my own good —
I'm not good — what now?

kung pagod ka na
'di kailangang umalis
— magpahinga ka

you'll understand when
you're a parent — is a bad
way of parenting

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

my patience would leave
me like its house — it'd always
find a home in you

someone's calling me
I look around thinking — did
I forgot to pay?

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

peal my layers off
eat me up and spit me out
plant me — I'm a seed

we had that one old
photo that always reminds
me how I wanted
to have kids with you, and you
did have kids — just not with me

you, who keep singing
a song after leaving the
room — coming back and
picking up where you left off —
like you never even left

things I left unsaid
walks the plank that is my
tongue, but they won't jump
and now roam my mouth — ghosts with
a LIFE more DEAD than ALIVE

the PARABLE of
the PLEASER:      "can you help with . . ."

YEAH
             SURE THING
                                       WHY NOT

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

seated, my back rests
but calm deserted me when
you pressed my shoulders

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

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

a raging river
of thoughts,  a stream of words — the
rest flows out as tears

quickly does the road
get stained by the rain that fell
fast from somewhere else

I saw you walk in—
to this place like an ocean
wave — reclaiming land
                                            (I'm the land)

as long as the sea
ends up on top of me — claimed
inevitably

Dear lover,

I've been feeding the white wolf
while the black wolf sleeps.
The sun sets, and I sleep alone.

If I feed the black wolf
while the white wolf dreams,
would I find you at sunset,
at the end of this red string?

Love,
LL

the cold wind whispers
there's nothing left for you here
so I struck a match

restless, these long nights
looking for you in the stars
found you — I found rest

I have grown restless
thinking how you don't find rest
in me anymore

inside the tunnel
the clown made you cry again
I promise not to

boy ran to the fields
his brother rose to meet him
finally, they're home

that guy who runs through
temples but stays in place — is
life an illusion

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

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

the wind kissed your hair
just like sakura petals
I can't look away

sakura fall five
centimeters per second
I'm falling faster

you're a sakura
and I'm a cobblestone path
waiting for autumn

I left home armored
and soon I will be back home
as a sakura⠀

桜