Ang letrang matapang.
Ang unang letra ng mga tao
na pinakamatatapang daw.
Ang unang letra ng salitang "laban",
ng "laot"
ng "lami"
ng "laya",
libro.
libertad.
lagrima.
Otra vez, libertad.
La palabra, "La"
La Union.
La Reina.
LA MANILEÑA.
La poeta.
La escritora maxima.
Lakambini.
Learning.
Laughing.
Loving.
Living.
Life.
Live­. Laugh. Love.

Estás a mi merced.
Hasta que yo lo diga,
nunca serás libre.
Yo no ruego
pero tu eres el que esta rogando.
Soy la reina de la isla del fuego,
este es mi juego y tu solo estas jugando.
Eres mi esclavo ahora.
hasta que escribo
Mi peor y último poema.

And you can't drown a woman who was raised by the ocean
and nourished by the islands.
You can't sink a ship and bring it to its knees.
But you can't soak a girl who grew up in floods of garbage
and emerged from bountiful farms.
You can't splash the rain and wet the storms.
You can't bring down a woman from mud,
with hands smeared by dirt from every dead God.
You can't bury an angel you tried to give hell,
with a body from heaven sent as your help.
You can't freeze a ***** whose heart is ice,
you should be ashamed of your foolish lies.
You can't burn a queen that's made of fire,
but you'll regret trying for the rest of your life.

But times are different now.
You may still have a kingdom,
yet you're here in mine and yours is far away,
you're here looking for food, like some stray.
But the tides have turned now.
Your kind used to be stronger,
yet now I have you wrapped around my finger,
you're there looking for me, who's now bigger.
But this is a newer world now.
You are right here in my kingdom and land,
you're nowhere to be found
if not for the golden touch of my hand.
But this is my world now.
You are right here in my abundant islands
and under my crimson red skies.
You'll be all but buried down to the ground
if not for my songs, lies, jokes and fire.
You're reduced to ashes among the sand
if not for me coming right into your life.

I'm never one to feel the right things,
to feel what I should be feeling
or what they say I should feel.
I'm never one to say the proper words,
to say what I should to cut the cords
or what they say I should pray to the Lord.
But why do I feel like I'm not welcome here?
Why do I feel like a stranger since I'm near?
I'm not one to do what a lady should do,
to do things for what and act to please who
or go wherever they want her to go to.
I'm never one to mindlessly nod and obey,
to follow the mild current and go against bay
or have a routine like I do from night to day.
But why do I feel like doing what they say?
Why do I feel like I need to go anyway?

It's been a month since I've cut my hair short
And in another month, I'll cut it again,
and the next month, another inch,
and more inch, and more inch...
As it tries to grow longer, I'll stop it there.
I'll chop it, if it tries to go past my shoulder.
And by December, I'll have a hair and body you have never touched, ever.
And by January, I'll be a brand new person
yet someone you'll never forget forever.

What of languages, if you only need one or two words to say you're sorry?

What of learning dialects, if you only need a single sentence to tell me why you think I deserved whatever **** you've put me in?

What use are the multiple languages you speak, when you can't use a single one of them to justify what you did?

What about the new language you taught me, is it even ours to begin with?
What good is it, if I'm now gagged, silenced and mute?

So what of languages, if you are to be exiled soon, with your tongue tied too?

So what of my dialects, if I couldn't even ask myself to forgive and forget, to let it go and give it a rest?

So what use are the multiple languages we speak, if we can't use a single word, a sentence, not a single language to say
the multitudes of feelings we feel?

What about the new language you taught me? I wanna write these words in scripts, only to light them in a fire.
How good will it be, if I were to be the bad guy this time?