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

I always liked storms
so I chased after you, and
danced under your rain

who's to say my life
isn't full at twenty-nine
to each cup its own

eight hours of sleep
eight to work and to hustle
eight to love yourself

perpendicular
short hand at 3, I waited
now there's just 1 hand

BLUE BIRD: if you can't
in one hundred and forty
characters, then don't

look into my eyes
and you'll see how silently
I'm screaming right now

owning a pencil
must come with a sharpener
or skills, and a blade

you took your shirt off
on your back was half a wing
inked — like my longing

your bare chest sculpted
my eyes — hammer and chisel
a thief you welcomed

your lips hugged the cig
tasting its soul — why am I
jealous of a stick

his LIPS — pressed to my
      nape — bear witness to    the SHAPE
                                        of my EXISTENCE

To Cristoforo,

It's often silent — but it's there,
the cannons aimed above our heads
under their white flags and olive branch.

Love,
LL

waves rush towards her
sand slipping between her toes
I am letting go

skin — your skin — excites
the hell out of me like it's
fine art on the street

we buy things with cash
to win people's hearts, kindness
is the ¢urrency

you make the sun rise
so I look across the sea
the sun sets on me

oh how intimate
his fingers comb my hair, to
trace lines on my nape
and see things I'll never SEE
like the inside of my ear

I fall fast as if
a star from a dream, did you
see — the TRAIL of LIGHT

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

tonight I'm awake
so I can spend tomorrow
feeling so sleepy

leaves fall like ashes
touching the ground like tancho
flowers spring from it

To MB,

I'll love you forever, even from afar.
Just think of the sun.

Always doesn't have to be near
just a secret, because we're both
married.

Love,
SP

my head hurts so bad
tired of explaining myself
thought you'd understand

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

Dear Finch; Connor;

I'm not sorry you did it
but I'm sorry we failed you.

Sincerely,
LL

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

my brain's a chem lab
and the chemist is asleep
— HELP THERE IS A FIRE!

To JC,

I had no one to tell these things before:

When I found myself lost in this world
because we weren't together,
I caught it wandering in another.

One where you walked on solid clouds,
and I left the comforts of a solid ground.

I didn't want to leave
because you were there
and we were together,

but bells ring, days end,
so I came down.

My feet touched the ground.

Love,
ML

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

empty bed, half-light
didn't mind sleeping alone
'til we did last night

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

two sticks — you lit one
offered me your cig — wished you
meant         your bed             instead

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

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