Dumapo kang malapit
Habang hangi’y malupit
Sa pag-asa kakapit.
2d ago
May 31, 2026 at 9:06 PM UTC
Do you ask?
Why are they there?
Where the lowly thatch grass
and neglected cogon abound
and the juice of centuries-old
sugarcane taste bitter, a contrast
to the sweetness we cherished
in the faded memories
of those days youthful
and free - barefoot
we balanced walking
on the paddy dikes
and greenfields. Peace -
silence is deceitful.
Broken then, and again, and again
the promises of wishing stars
in the heavens that grew higher, farther.
Now rust has claimed the chains
and the barbed wires that fence -
Fence that became towering walls:
Prison enclosures of dreams
Answers that could not be found
There’s no hope in sight
In the comfort of the flat plains.
Asking
questions is liberating -
When questions open the floodgates
of critical thoughts and actions . . .
Do you really ask?
if - why are they there?
Ah, not to me, please
not me, not I,
who cannot but wonder
why am I
still here . . .
Apr 28
Apr 28, 2026 at 11:21 PM UTC
Itinatanong mo ba?
kung - bakit sila naroon?
Kung saan ang abang talahib
at hamak na kogon ay malago
at mapait ang katas ng dantaong
tubó, sa halip na tamis na nalasap
sa kumupas na ala-ala ng ating
malayang kamusmusan - yapak
na gumagaod sa mga pilapil
at luntiang parang. Payapa
ay mapagkunwari.
Napako noon at napakong muli
ang mga pangako ng mga talang mithi
sa langit na lalong naging matayog.
Kalawangin na ang mga tanikala
at matinik na alambreng bakod -
Bakod ay naging mataas na pader:
Kulungan ng mga pangarap
Kasagutang hindi maapuhap
Walang pag-asang matanaw
Sa kapatagang maaliwalas.
Nakakapagpalaya
ang pagtatanong
kung hahantong
sa tawag ng pagsulong . . .
Itinatanong mo nga ba?
kung - bakit sila naroon?
A, huwag na sa akin,
huwag na ako
na di rin mapagtanto
kung bakit narito
pa rin ako . . .
Apr 23
Apr 23, 2026 at 9:54 AM UTC
The deities haven’t stopped playing
from the times of seemingly benevolent
checkers of merchants, then grandiose
chess of nobles: with faith-imposing bishops,
knights riding galleons and gold-grabbing
queens to worshipping warships and heartless
flying dragons - drones -
the fields looked innocent white and black
squares of histories, in ink of charred woods
of forests long gone, upon snobbish pompous
quills, in cursive elegant, as trumpets sound
the victories of empires - post grabbed
rectangles and polygons, dots and circles -
everything has always been drenched crimson -
written in blood-red of martyrs -
and perpetually, the poor -
the ordinary people
are the faceless pawns:
the scattered dust and ashes
crying . . . genuine change . . .
Apr 15
Apr 15, 2026 at 9:03 AM UTC
You’re looking up now
at the little boat in the middle
of the sea we call the sky
When in the age of game of pirates,
loose shorts and crumpled shirts.
you patiently murmured hails, many
and praises, eyes on the rosary,
bunches of caught mystery - glory
Oh glorious! joy, Oh joyous! Of one lord
sorrow. Oh sorrowful! - pain did accord,
the little crucifix was not in discord
Beyond this bank, on the other side
a childhood friend stands, river astride:
One who used to pray with eyes closed,
kneeling, head bowed, fervent, deposed:
Now eyes, mesmerized, wide opened,
by light of this multiverse, brightened,
Of what use has the picking pole, then? End!
Knowledge’s fruit dropped, unattended
Each with a river crossed and forded
Each with its own heart exploded!
Mar 29
Mar 29, 2026 at 9:38 AM UTC
Bingi marahil pawà
ang mga bathalà
pag-usal ng mga pithayà
libong ulit, rosaryong alilà
tayngang kawali ang banal na lupà
Nagkikislapan ang mga buntalà
Kwitis na bulalakaw, bituing mapanirà
Sakal ang langis sa pus-ong hiniwà
Binabato ang mga sinasalantâ
Patay-mali sa mga batang bumulagtâ
Sanggol na duguan, inang ginahasà
Ipinaghehele, pulburang namiminsalà.
Mar 21
Mar 21, 2026 at 2:37 AM UTC
Tinitingala mo na ngayon
ang bangkang nasa laot
ng kalangitan.
Kahit sa panahon
ng patintero, salawal at polong gusot,
matiyaga **** inusal, sa rosaryo’y nakatuon
ang mga kumpol ng misteryong sinambot -
tuwa, luwalhati, ningning ng ****
at hapis, o hapis, pagdurusang sinaklot,
krus-krusang hindi isinangkot
Akong dati’y nananalanging nakapikit,
tiklop-tuhod, nakayuko, buhos ang loob:
Ngayon ay bukas ang matang naakit
sa liwanag namulat, sa sansinukob
Aanhin ang mahabang panungkit?
Bunga ng dunong ay kusang nahulog
Bawat isa’y tinawid ang ibang ilog
Bawat isa’y may pusong sumabog!
Mar 20
Mar 20, 2026 at 7:59 AM UTC
Amid Life’s trials
Survival’s the only way
Picture me hoping . . .
Feb 17
Feb 17, 2026 at 11:44 PM UTC
Galit ang aleng maputi
Tinawag syang “Nanay, sukli!”
Di raw sya matandang suki
Senior discount, bigay dali!
Feb 7
Feb 7, 2026 at 8:03 PM UTC
Munching them blushed our lips alive
just as our thoughts turned red orange
like the sunset sky over Black Mountain
as we ran quietly along gray walk paths
where green and brown grass patches
are mosaiced with the pink of galahs.
Our memories arched rainbows flew
back to us like flocks - crimson rosellas -
elegant like the black swans mutual
and forming heart signs while grays
and browns of free cygnets cheer
afloat silent waters crystal clear
Happy moments forever dear . . .
Feb 5
Feb 5, 2026 at 6:24 AM UTC