I've no need for sleep, until all the stars above our seas are free.
I've no desire to wake and rise, until the sun sets in our fields of rice.
I've no time to shed tears, until every drop of my ocean is allowed again to be salty.
I've nothing to lose, until I lose my motherland to the hands of another enemy.
I feel no hunger, until every farmer's family have something to eat.
I feel no thirst, until every fisherman's friends can sail and live.
I've no mind for pain and logic, until every politician's ideals are not from their ****.
I've no heart for heartbreak, until each of my countrymen's heartache has been healed.

The whole city hums in suspense,
even strangers are on the fence.
They all want to meet my poems’ legend,
everybody wants to read how the story ends.
The Pacific sings in hungry anticipation,
I thirst for your sea, quench my dehydration.
The whole city waits for your return soon,
they want to witness you eclipsing my moon.
You are the sun that I’m waiting for to set,
yet the moon and tides doesn’t force and beg.
And the earth spins, so will the other planets,
but my world is frozen until you’re on my bed.

Here is a list poem of things you simply don't get to joke about:
Siargao
My body/weight/insecurities
Your marriage
How you're gonna **** me
Your relationship status
You coming back here
Siargao
Your **** size
Seeing me again
"See you soon"
Souvenirs
Siargao

Things that are okay to joke about:
Playful racism
Racist stereotypes
My poems (that means you've read them)
Religion
Not seeing me again
Me not being your altar
Never seeing me again ever
You not being my true salvation

I carry your memory
like my own blood—constant and unshakeable.
I hear your voice
like my own language—haunting and historical.
Try as I might to forget,
your face is what I think of when I look at the sun.
Try as they might to flush me out,
you pull me in and I follow you around, I dance to your orbit.
Even my own language echoes yours;
how could I even translate the feeling of escape?
Your country's name is engraved on mine;
how could I ever break free from your chains and jail?
I carry the weight of longing,
chained by the shackles of distance and other strings.
I bear witness to surviving and surpassing,
caged within the cells of reality and perhaps some 2-body problem.

Jazz bar with soft yellow lights
Craft cocktails on our hands
Flirting with each other
Late Saturday night
All night long
Me and him

Poor strangers, they thought I'm gonna flirt
but all they’d hear are my poorer poems,
instead of my name, they’d know our history
and about your legend, one I wrote myself.
Unsuspecting waiters, I thought I saw you
but all I see is how much I’m going crazy
and how the city and the next would agree
and how they’re telling me to let you go.
But no one here knows how much I want you.
Pitiful boys in the club who'd buy me anything,
I said I want a ticket to X city,
now who’s laughing? And who’s crying?
No one knows how badly I want to see you.
Unassuming guy who looks like a friend, who hurts me just for passing by, told me his name, I said “you don’t look like a Tomás.”
And no one here knows how much I miss you.

I've never been this brazen before, but then I've lost quite a number of battles before. The years have made me bolder and braver.
I've never been this romantic before, but then I've loved and lost several times in the past. They have made my heart more tender.
𝘓𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵...
I've never been this forward with anyone before, but then we've been dancing around the idea of romance for months now.
I've never wanted anyone like this before, but then I've been writing about the theory of romance with you in mind; but how?
𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥, 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥,
𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥, 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥...
But we've laughed before, had dinners, had drinks, went dancing,
but when I try doing it with somebody else now, it's different.
But we've met before, laughed some more, shared jokes, shared food,
but when I meet someone new, tell me why I miss you even more?
I can't even go out without the street signs reminding me of you,
not that we've walked this city together before, so how?
I can't even go to the movies without wishing you're with me,
not that we've watched a movie before, so why now?
𝘌𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘦𝘴𝘵, 𝘸𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵...
When are we going to try the ******* couple photo booth photos?
When are going to my favorite jazz bars in this city?
When the **** are we going to just try? We'd make each other cry.
When the **** are we going to go dancing again?
𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥, 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥,
𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥, 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥...

I know you can't shake me off now.
I know I'll linger longer.
I know you can't erase me now.
I know I'll forget you now, forever.
But I am the secret prayer in your head.
I am the secret confession that can't be said.
I am the secret you want to lay with on every bed.
I know you can't break free from the fantasy now.
I know you'll always be in my letters.
I know you will never forget me, even now.
I know you'll realize the huge mistake you made later.
I am the stars, the microplastics in your gut.
I am the silent satellites orbiting your golden sun.
I am the sophon, and in your earth I'm stunned and spun.
I know you'll always be at home, but haunted.
I know you'll always think about me, just like a problem.
I know I'll always wonder if time and space can truly be bent.
And I'll always feel the same about you, we're a two-body problem.