and I fin'lly understood
why among all
the hours of the day,

sunset has always been
the most breathtaking one.

Wala nang hihigit pa
sa paglayang natamo
matapos ang mahabang gabi
ng unang paglayang ipinagluksa-

ang paglayang inilaan
sa pagbitaw
sa mga ala-alang ipininta
kalakip ng pangakong
bukas,


higit ka nang laya.

And while women her age
walk down the aisles
teary-eyed in veils and flow'rs
adoring flashes wishes them the best,

she confidently ramps
along wide-eyed crowd
wishing they have
what she boldly has-

He had awaken the flame
that has been asleep
for all seasons gone
only to leave her
ice cold frost one moonlit night

but with a tiny
little hope to fate,
she counted drops
like how leaves fall
on cobblestones

She was left
clutching unto knife
pointing in her
iced stone heart

and though
she cries during
summer eves,
she made sure not to bleed
all winter days.

When a poet
holds his pen
and the composer
finds the perfect words
the painter mixed the shades
and the singer hit the notes

dearest,
that's when scars turn
into art.

I loved him,
but I am not inlove with him.

I was inlove with the idea
of loving him.

And now I miss the idea
of being inlove with him.

People uttered so much
about how they would do things
for those who they love,
but won't actually jump off the boat
when it's about to sink.

Their reason?

They would rather stay...

And so I cut the red string
to see if it was really love
or peace that I'll be
waving my sleeves with

And to my wonder,
I met both.

Now I am starting
my stiches
repairing the damage
and confusions

this red string
hath brought
to my oh so curious
heart.

And so flames
hath turned one to ash
while the other
still fights its light

One begged to live
while the other held to love

Please do enlighten
this wander'ng soul

Who keeps on blaze-
burning herself within
for the one
she once had taken an oath
in flames.

Still using the same
language you taught me

and perhaps the very reason

why no one
understands
how painful it is
beneath the surface.

Love came
to heal
an old scar concealed

only to bleed
again

in hopes
of stitches
from thread
in loops.

She can no longer
hold on the pain;
it lingers through her bones
and within

So she came to rivers
and cried all out

as she made sure
all drops will flow
along the coldest waters

that'll never come back
her chest
ever
again.

If what we are
is just a game,
would you cheat
just to win?

This she asked,
and with a frown
he answered
"No."

She knew he meant it

She held back for reasons
she had tried to count
and at last,
she saw the borders,
the lines
that ceased
the fear she kept
her anchored feet.

Yeah, she was afraid
she might lose
herself- the empire
she built within for years-
the gravity that keeps
the balance in her.

until she realized...

how at some point
breaking an empire
is the only way
to rebuild its damages

and facing imbalances
is the only way
to regain the center.

What auroras do with freedom
that rains do consistently
is the same thing that
makes lightnings and
thunderstorms roar

so real
yet so intense

gentle
yet so chaotic

just like how
two strange souls
collided from
two diverged cosmos.

So much stories to read
and ours is my fave
to tell

Sometimes I whip
through it
but most
I ponder to live.

I've been marking
my skin
with pain I could
only acknowlege
through pen.

And when he came,
no space was left
to welcome
the story he had to tell.

So I made him pages
in a corner
no one had ever
dared to flip.

No.

Not yet.

Not until you
feel that pulse
that says...

You could grow old
with that one.

Oh what a wonderful
castle she had built
in bricks she fenced
its peace
no thorn could ever
cross

until one cold winter night,
a painter came
with graffiti he whispered
all flowers bloom
on spring
even on fall
all naked trees would bow.

That when she woke up
from a life-time death,
her walls...

unshattered
yet changed.

I'd never wished for
anything fancy and glittery
and bright
other than a glimpse
of Borealis.

But when a shooting star came,
it made me witnessed
how a single hope
could mean a galactic miracle.

And right there,
when I hoped for nothing
more than a blink of amazement,

my galaxy aligned its stars
to open the universe
I never imagined
I'd be able to see...

He thinks she's precious
but it's the other way around.

He sees stars in her eyes;
she reaches universe
with his touch.

And while he forsees
his future with her,
she was busy

nurturing
their safest haven.

I wrote a story
with an ending not so well.
For the main that I have chosen
chose to leave the chapter.

And so I had no choice
but to close the book
and put it on a shelf
where it truly belonged.

Until one windy day,
a clean sheet of paper
blown by the wind
sat on my lonely den.

And right there
I gave birth to two:
prose and poetry
they call them.

One I nurture for long lasting,
the other makes me lost in a while.

both of them
I found
in a new main
I won't get tired of
writing all my
new beginnings with.

Been grieving over
an unfinished story
only to realize
how I had been wasting time
waiting for an ending
that has already been there

hanging on elipsis.

He flows like a river
and as his waters fall down,
a heart of stone hath melted.

She nurtures like earth
on ground she keeps her feet,
she made home for his lost soul.

Oh what a mess had been created
the moment these two
hath met!

But even in muds,
a lotus sprouts.

and no matter how chaotic
it might appear...

some things bloom within.

I lost the love
I thought I deserved
until it came
in a form of something
I wasn't expecting
it would be.

Now I'm crying
in a form of tears
I haven't shed
before.

You made me crave for more
and left me hanging
on the bridge
when I expected you
to cross the half
of what you asked from me.

Is it still intimacy
or was I mistaken
from the start?

My bones are aching
for a tight hug
while my heart
screams thy name
to hold its every beat.

But my brain?
it's willing to die first
before it admits
and surrenders.

Why?
for it felt pain first
that causes too much

too much for the bones
to ache
and for its heart
to break.

"What did you trade me for?"
she asked.

"Happiness, " he answered,  then asked the same question.

"Unselfish love,"
she wanted to say.

But all she could utter was
"The same."

She couldn't say goodbye
so she wrote him her farewell.

He couldn't read her pain
so he left before she packed her suitcase.

You are allowed to wake up
and still dream..

like how you allow yourself
to die
and still breathe.

Met my demons last night
told me I couldn't move out

Today,
I proved her wrong
by cutting
all my thorns.

Grow in places thy universe
hath planted thee in.
Hold thy roots to the ground;
nourish thy leaves through the sun.

Bloom and bear fruits,
and let those in need take all of thee-

thy fruits to the hungry,
thy blossoms to those who love,
thy leaves to the breathing,
thy seeds to the soil.

Until then,
the new thee thy old roots
were rooting for

shall sprout.

I was jealous
I had no right to.

I miss him
I have no right to.

I want to love him
I shall not have the right to.

And so I left...