sun's hot, water's wet
— and skin was just skin until
I saw it on you

to see you smile like
Sakaguchi Kentaro —
is my sun and sky

I'd like to take your
glasses off someday, and set
them on a table
then I'll lean forward, as slow
as the way
                        you
             stir
                        your
             cup

I can change the room
but every time you enter
all the noise softens

made of soft mornings
humid noons, quiet evenings —
I dream of summer

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

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

if you wish to know
me, start slow — I'm an image
still painting itself

I step to my right
approaching girl hesitates
she steps to her left

stop me — stop what we're
doing just so I can get
on my knees to plead
                                      (don't)

know that if I leave
I didn't stop choosing you —
I stopped choosing me

glorious rain — we
are a storm within these walls
made of two bodies

they say looks can ****
but why does mine want you stripped
warm — and on my bed

right at that moment
when the sun disappeared, I
should've broke orbit
instead I stayed in place — stuck
exactly where you left me

you came to take your
stuff — you can take everything
just take me with you

the night — swift and loud
crying of the long day's sun
about the full moon

don't give me the faint
glow of a distant star — bring
out your raging sun

it started raining
so I put on my raincoat
and the sun said, SIKED!

heaven's gate closes
the longer I keep you here
sunkissed, on my bed

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

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

infinitely slow
yet certainly numbered — this
makes summer sweeter

**** I keep losing
you in the crowd, guy who looks
like Kido Taisei

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

having a blacksmith
for a father always set
the house on fire — some
children get tempered like steel —
some get brittle like charcoal

why does thunderclap
over a sunlit sky — feel
like an oath you'd break

but then the rain came
where each drop planted a kiss
on my skin — sweet, soft
and tender — exactly where
you promised each one will be

now each thunderclap
over a sunlit sky — is
hope I believe in

you know you've got it
bad when you check your watch and
what was 10 is 2

I cannot help but
notice how that thing between
your legs listen when
my tongue writes long letters and
my lips do all the talking

maybe it's not them
you miss — perhaps it's yourself
                back when you're happy

if they find rest in
somebody else, does it mean
           it's you they're tired of

ᴵ touch me
on my palm
like I'm a flower
you mean to open

ᴵᴵ touch me
between my fingers
like I'm a sea
you mean to part

ᴵᴵᴵ touch me
in my arm
like I'm a sheep
you mean to guide

ᴵⱽ touch me
on my shoulders
like I'm a wall
you mean to hold

ⱽ touch me
on the nape
like I'm cards
you mean to shuffle

ⱽᴵ touch me
on the side of my face
like I'm braille
you mean to read

ⱽᴵᴵ touch me
on the lips
like I'm cherries
you mean to pick

ⱽᴵᴵᴵ touch me
on my neck
like I'm a glass
you mean to drink

ᴵˣ touch me
on my chest
like I'm a drum
you mean to beat

ˣ touch me
like you mean it

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

when people feel trapped
sometimes they're the prisoner
sometimes they're the cell

there are nights when my
knees write treaties on the floor —
of my surrender

like the constant tug
of February 30
I end up c𖦹nfused

if you didn't sleep
last night, did today ever
turned to tomorrow

is it because I
have yet to taste that I have
yet to
           understand

Dear Finch; Connor;

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

Sincerely,
LL

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

there is a void in
his shape within me — and there
are these spaces he
left wide open — places that
I have not learned to close yet

high noon, I waited
for you at the torii
night came, you did not ⛩

silence, your silence
is not a void — it is a
warmth I come home to

don't ask me to stop
we've been loving, and hurting
so long, it's the same

does it keep you up
at night — waiting for the when
in WHEN I GROW UP . . .

when my palm is on
the side of my face
and my fingers curl
at the back of my neck
I can't tell
which
feels which

this war I am in
has a white flag, tied to the
barrel of a gun

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

if I can only
be happy for you and not
happy with you — f***