Hihintayin pa ba natin
Na ang langit ay matakpan ng mga kulay abo na alapaap
Na pinaghalong mga usok ng bomba
At mga ulap na nagdadala ng mabigat na bagyo?

Hihitayin pa ba natin
Na mawala ang buhay ng isang inosenteng sibilyan
Sa ngalan ng isang lalake sa kataas-taasan ng kalawakan
Na hindi naman natin tiyak kung tayo ba’y binabantayan pa?

Hihintayin pa ba natin
Ang pag-hiyaw ng milyong-milyong mga mamayanan
Ang hiyaw na nagdadala ng kanilang takot
Na tila ba’y parang kampana ng simbahan
Pinipilit tayong tumayo at bumangon na

Hihitayin pa ba natin
Ang pagmamakaawa ng isang burgis na artista
Na ang tingin lang sa atin ay mga tseke at barya?

Hihintayin pa ba natin
Ang pag-tahimik sa atin ng mga lalakeng naka-itim
Sumisigaw at nananakot
Sa ngalan ng maitim na propaganda?

O hihintayin na lang natin
Na gawing tayong manhid
Sa bilang ng tatlo
Habang tayo’y tinututukan ng kailbre kwarenta y kwatro?

Like the switch button of a 90s television set, the echoes of a knock and a dead bolt’s lock pierces the static air of sharp breathing.

“Define stay, in your point of view, when you can’t even be here to explain its meaning directly to my face,” she pleads with glassy eyes on the verge of breaking down.

She silences a sob with the tearing of handwritten letters and the burning of old photographs.  She won’t need them; she already has every word bound and every pixel branded onto her memory, as much as she tried to annihilate it all.

Behind the closed door, his eyes mirror hers.  His tongue was dry, but careful enough to select the words that would quench their parched throats and hearts.

Will she open a new door? Will he face a new destiny? Are they even in the same corridor, the same floor, the same building?

They’ve been roaming separately, unsure of their directions if one is following the other’s path. Or are they just traveling in circles of pure coincidence?

He knocks again.

“Stay is when my hands or eyes are unable to hold you close, yet you know you’re home.  Because of the way you are anchored to my voice when I say your name, or the way my heart keeps you with me.  

Stay doesn’t always require physical presence.  

I know you are already decided on staying whenever I enter your mind, whenever you think about me. And you know I can never leave your mind, much more your heart.”

She stays put where she is.

The only thing she leaves is the door—open—for him.

I feel
     like I am floating on sunshine.
Her.
      she's all I think about.
Me.
       holding her hand.
Eyes.
       hazel and full of sparkles and love.
Heart.
        beating fast in my chest.
Butterflies.
         i feel them in my stomach and in my feet.
Is this?
          is love supposed to feel like this?
She.
          is all i ever think about.
Love.
           i wonder if she feels the way i do.

Silence
Is
Cement
Between
Words






,,,

Deception.
To deceive,
Or be deceived.

Smile on their faces,
Daggers behind my back.
How it happened, no one knows.
No one, but they know.

Countless times, I'd been stabbed.
Bruised, broken, beaten.
Not physically, but emotionally.
I don't know why I led them closer,
Close enough to carve my heart,
With their cold-blooded knifes.

This make me stronger.
It makes me wiser.
Instead of breaking down,
I learn.
I learn from those who betrayed me,
Those who toyed with my conscience.
And those who preyed.

Now,
Each walk out my door,
Their greetings not to me,
But my mask.

From the one being deceived,
Now the one to deceive.

Alone.

Empty are the seats across your dinner table,
Missing are the people that surrounded you.
I'm alone, you feel.
But what if I told you,
It's okay to be alone.

You may yearn for their company,
Their love, their laughs, their joys.
But you find yourself here, now,
By yourself and a cup of coffee.

Alone.

Not many like to experience it.
Nor do they understand it.
But the truth is,
Do they have to?

It's okay to be alone.
But not lonely.
Leave those who make you feel alone,
Even if they don't before.

Sometimes, being alone,
Is the only ingredient you need,
To feel normal. Again.

Author a book,
Compose a music album,
Become a popular cook,
Hold an art exhibition,
Explore innovation,
Creation,
Ground breaking invention,
Appear on television,
Meet Stan Lee,
Creator of comic action,
Live dangerously,
Learn magic,
Learn lock pick,
Want to build,
Create,
Destroy,
Travel,
Back in time,
To the future,
Explore nature,
And shape the world,
From its failures.