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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

kung pagod ka na
'di kailangang umalis
— magpahinga ka

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

sarcasm demands
shared intimate history
for it to make sense

deep voice drew me in —
close enough to inhale his
secondhand stories

it will all make sense
you can't tell that to someone
who is hurting NOW‎

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

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

got so depressed in
the middle of changing sheets
I slept without one

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