hey kid, listen — don't
leave the womb, don't open your
eyes — they'll make you cry

our days came with rain
the cold kissed my lips — I wish
                           you did it instead

on my knees — in a
way, praying that you won't take
your hand off my nape

some nights I wish you'd
just knock — it's not just my door
I'll let you in through

even I can't tell
anymore, which of the things
                    I say are true / lies
but for some unknown reason
you're here, you know who I am

slow mornings are for
taking his time to hold me
like a lazy cat

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

remember, he who
turned the light on had to look
for it in the dark

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

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

I carry you like
old locks fastened to a bridge —
I unlock nothing

the sound of rain on
a moving train makes me wish
the trip was longer

focusing on my
pain is how I lose the hand
I'm holding right now

I am losing sleep
over the matter of why
I am losing sleep

perhaps life is the
spouse and rest is the lover —
my head is our bed

if you want to shut
me up, lock my lower lip
in-between your teeth

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

look for me where I
was left to get lost — right there
find me — lush and tall

can life lose all its
meaning — and could there ever
be one without love?

we allow ourselves the MEMORY
even if it comes with the PAIN
just so we won't forget the PERSON

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

that's when I knew you're
good for me — I liked myself
more for liking you

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