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Pauline Celerio Nov 2016
Alaala ng alapaap
Ang naglahong mga pangarap
Sa dapithapon na umaga
ng kawalan ng pag-asa.

Alaala ng alapaap
Ang bawat pangungusap
Na sa dugo ay inukit
At buhay ang kapalit.

Alaala ng alapaap
Ang mga bugso ng damdamin
Ang mga pusong lumalaban
Para sa iisang adhikain.

Ngunit sa bandang huli
Sa paglipas ng panahong mahaba
Tanging ang alapaap
Ang tunay na umaalala.
A poem in my mother tongue. In memory of all those who were unjustly killed during the Philippine Martial Law. #MarcosNOTahero
Pauline Celerio Jun 2016
2:51 a.m.

In the dead of the night,
Is when you truly come alive.
You are a chance I'm willing to take
And it has been so long since I did.
May this split-second decision
Turn into wonderful memories.
So when we part again, maybe for life,
You'll be a happy memory in the dead of my night.

2:57 a.m.
Just can't help but feel the burning anticipation in my chest. And I can't sleep.
Pauline Celerio Sep 2016
What would you do
if you knew
you had a piece of me
in you?
As much as I try
to go away and stay that way
I still feel strongly
from case to case.
A piece of me so miniscule
but it floods in my head
all the times that we shared.
It is a piece of me
that stays so hopeful
for when the time comes.
As much as I try to pull away
It is a piece of me
that pulls me back.

And if you ever find
something lacking,
Remember,
there is a piece of me
in you.
I just realized you can't really just forget everything. From time to time, you'll think of all the happy memories, half-hopeful and half-sad.
Pauline Celerio Oct 2021
I have always longed for peace like
how I have always thought of peace:
Calmness, stillness, and serenity
all at once after a raging storm.
But I have taken for granted another form
that has always been there before:
—a piece of peace in my favorite tune,
a piece of peace when I look at the moon,
a piece of peace in my covers’ warmth,
a piece of peace that gives the heart
a chance to fight again, to love again,
a piece of peace that wills me to stand up to live again.
In these trying times, these small pockets of peace in the mundane things is what wills me to not lose hope for the better.
Pauline Celerio Jan 2014
You know that complicating feeling?
When you can't say what you mean to say,
and now I'm staring to the ceiling.
That split second on replay.
Don't you know I secretly wondered
and I hoped that you would see through me?
I might say you're a feeler,
But what I mean is we could be together.
I might say "are you so sure?"
But what I mean is we should think 'forever'.
In this confusion
is a confession
close your ears, LISTEN WITH YOUR HEART.
And this time,
You have to read between the lines.
Pauline Celerio Jun 2019
Oh dear Chrysanthemum,
You look so joyful dancing with the summer wind.
And your petals are the testament
of your courage and hardwork.

Hello dear Chrysanthemum,
You look so lovely under the midday sun,
But the world has yet to understand,
the pain it took you to bloom.
Germinate.
Pauline Celerio Aug 2018
The night grows
The wind blows
Unseen stars
from windows
Tamed heights
Untrained eyes
see hope in
city lights.
But my soul longs
for starlights
with you
by my side.
When I look at the city lights from my window, I wish you were here  by my side.
Pauline Celerio Nov 2016
I am not your medicine.
I am not a miracle.
All I can do is hold your hand
every step of the way.
And be your hope
When you have none.
And be your candle,
When you are engulfed in your darkness.
I cannot cure that loneliness
Plaguing you everyday.
All I have is my presence,
and maybe I can ease your pain.
All I ask is you squeeze my hand
When I become terrified of your demons.
And I want you to understand,
That I also have mine to share.
And together, both of us
Can creep and survive
the jungles that we weaved
Straight from our minds.
And perhaps we will be victorious
Or perhaps it will take time.
But in this tunnel that you call life
I will be your flicker of light.
Acceptance.
Pauline Celerio Apr 2020
The concrete jungle
is a mixture of successes
and failed dreams,
And we have been sifting
through this place now
for years.

The lights are dazzling
but sometimes cold,
You're a kindred spirit--
warm, beautiful, and bold.

Please don't let
the concrete jungle
gobble up a flicker of you.
Burn through all the tribulations,
Burn bright,
Burn blue.
To all the working people in concrete jungles across the world--let us burn blue.
Pauline Celerio May 2016
In the quietude of my being
lies a raging storm.
In the silence of my lips
are thoughts forlorn;
In my luminescent smile
are rivers of my tears,
And my indifference,
is the sum of all my fears.

How great are the little things
done at the right time;
How little words mean
when it is too late.
Life is a wonder,
a journey to wander.
Life has taught me
the greatest lesson learned:

It is when I am lost, when I can be found;
It is when I walk, when I crawl on the ground;
It is when I slip, when I learn how to climb;
It is when I fall, when I learn how to fly.
Life is a contradiction. But it is when we learn.
Pauline Celerio Oct 2016
"So you fancy yourself a writer?
One who dances with words?"

"And one who travels in worlds, sings stories of youth.
One who wonders and wanders, and seeks the depths of the truth."

"And she rhymes too. I do hope to have her sight soon, for chances to make her swoon.
So where does she go, and with who
Sights of gold meant for two?
If lights do shine for one,
could i be one with you?"

"Distance is only just a number, and the words will be our bridges.
And if the lights do shine for us,
Then let the night be our witness."

"So then I must build and travel. Across the world and under stars.
With hope, and hope alone that one day will be ours."

"Hope is a riddler, and life is a fiddler.
And hope--hope will be the silver in the clouds of gray.
And hope is having to meet you, on a one fine day."

"So what should I do, or where might I go?To make real a dream, effort I am keen
To have you; words something more that I can read."

"Oceans--the oceans divide us
But the sky surrounds us.
And I live in the land of people from all walks,
The "promised land"--
The land that promised bounty
The land that promised ecstasy."

"I've seen the sun set over the sea, greeted the man who I call me.
There are times in my life when he will suddenly leave,
but I wish for one day when you two meet."
This is an actual conversation I had with a person. It would be a shame not to immortalize it here. Kudos to you Kyle, you're a great writer!
Pauline Celerio Jul 2021
My crooked teeth is my thorn
But your eyes twinkle when you see me smile
And tell me “You’re beautiful,
like that of a goddess divine.”
And darling from then on,
You made me find my peace
That I can still be as radiant,
Despite my crooked teeth.
Find someone who will make you feel lovely despite your insecurities.
Pauline Celerio Jul 2020
Knives aimed, thundered voices;
Feeble thoughts and shallow reasons;
Blinders on, deafened ears;
Fragile freedom on her knees.
Shame on your bloodied hands!
Shame on your hollow conscience!
This is where it begins--the depths of her despair;
In muffled breaths of dead air.
A sad day for press freedom in our country.
Pauline Celerio Jul 2016
"Why are you so afraid
Of falling in love?" They ask.
"I'm not," I reply.
"What I'm most afraid of
Is me falling in love again
Without him
ever loving me back."
Pauline Celerio Jul 2021
The child welcomed the first May rain
So openly tender, so caringly free,
So full of wonder, with untainted glee.
Oh what a joyful celebration!
In her simple, little mind
It’s the kind of adoration
I want to feel for one more time.
What is it like to feel to experience that kind of excitement for one more time?
Pauline Celerio Oct 2017
For you, my love.

Thank you.

You gave me "always" when all I've known were "almosts" and "nevers".

You gave me "lifetime" when the world was changing and temporary.

Your sincerity broke down the walls that kept my heart locked in.

Your love has won the battle, triumphed over my little insecurities and self-doubt.

You, all that makes you, have won me over.

And will win me over, over and over again.

Today, tomorrow, and for a lifetime that is ahead of us.

Thank you for being brave enough to love me, when sometimes I couldn't even love myself.

Thank you for being you. You are the best choice, and will always be my choice.

I love you. Good night.
To the person who broke down my walls and loved me in both my strength and fragility. I love you.
Pauline Celerio Sep 2016
You ask me, "Why do you look at the future so much?"
"Why you do not dwell on the past?"

I think it's because the future holds so much hope,
an anticipation for something marvelous.
I think it's because the past holds so much pain,
that I could not feel them anymore.
I think it's because the past is a mixture of the bitter and the sweet,
and sometimes I cannot distinguish which is which.

And then I see the present,
that was once my future and will one day be my past.
The present that is the mover of the future.
The present that is the lesson of the past.
And so the present is certainty and uncertainty combined.

And so why do I look at the future,
and not so much on my present and the past?

I think it's because the future is uncertain and creative,
and the past is neither.
I think it's because the future is far away,
and the journey is worth the yearning.
I think it's because the future is at the palm of my hands,
without me having to move mountains.
I think it's because the future will always be my own,
and not of the outside terrains.

But ultimately,
I think it's because the future is always happy,
the present is somber and the past is lonely.
And I can't wait for the day
when I look at my past like I look at my future--
with gaiety, with hope, and with vigor.
The beauty of looking at the future.
Pauline Celerio Jan 2014
Beyond the luminescence of the morning sun glory
Is a fleeting little dream in the middle of darkness;
I dream of a spark that is yet to bring beams
I dream of a flicker that is yet to bring brightness.

I dream in a world where anything can happen;
I dream in a world of what I desire;
I dream in a hope that there will be something
A sparkle of light turning in a burning fire.

The daybreak drove the dancing lights to end;
As the dancing lights left my iris eyes.
The embers of my dream is my secret friend;
And my embers will one day ignite.

I prepare my armor, my sword and my mind
I prepare to realize, shouting my battle cry.
I prepare my heart, my wings and my soul
I prepare to fully grasp my sparkling goal.

And the twinkling light in my darkest reverie,
Became the radiance incomparable to any.
At last! At last! It’s in my hands,
But then up above, I fully understand.

I still go back to that glimmer of a dream,
Where I first saw the little twinkling light.
For it is in those simple humble things
I realize the time of my life.
Pauline Celerio Aug 2018
Wrote you a letter
With words I never said
Thoughts running in my head
From the day we first met.
I found us a reason
Why this couldn’t go on
You needed time to be alone
So you can be stronger than before.

So when I said goodbye
It was for the better
Better for a reason.
When I said goodbye
It didn’t mean I don’t love you
But I have to do this
for you to love yourself.
“Don’t let someone find you until you find yourself.” Truer words have never been spoken.
Pauline Celerio Jan 2014
I know you wouldn't be there but I always
think that you'd somehow appear.
I don't understand how this really works but I
love the way you make me forget my fears.
You just needed to smile and tell me it's alright
but I know it is too good to be true.
You never even glanced my way tonight,
don't you think I deserve a chance too?
See how the star sparkles even so far away
How they eternally inspired painters and poets;
My hands try to reach the vast cold space,
Eyes closed. Heart open. Mind blank for a moment.
Light and warmth envelope me,
Up away in the sky I'll daydream.
When the time comes that you'll know me,
You're my star, and you'll know in time; but
Near the end, you might never know why.

But maybe, just maybe,
You just have to read between the lines.
Pauline Celerio Oct 2016
I heard it.
The pain in your refrain.
The joy in your verses.
The defeat in your chords,
The melody in the noises.
I heard it.
That certain moment,
When you finally let go.
The broken choruses,
freest in the echoes.
I heard it.
The words you haven't told me.
The music you haven't sung.
The breeze that is your sea,
And the waves that you say I am.

But if I am what you say,
Then why do you close your eyes
While letting me go away?
Don't let go--
Help me hold on to you.
Don't let go--
Hold me.
Embrace me.
Absorb me.

I have known what you feel now--
And I have built walls around my heart.
But stand up,
stop singing.
Stand up,
start walking.
Stand up,
and close the distance.
Hold my hand,
And let me understand.

Tell me now, and cast away the shadows.
Let me be that place you will always call home.
Pauline Celerio Jan 2014
How can I unlove you?
Shall I unsee the luminescent smile you make?
Shall I unfeel the heavy breaths I take?
Shall I undraw your image inside my head?
Shall I unhold our memories instead?
Shall I unwrite the song I made for you?
Shall I untell my heart to stop beating too?
Shall I uncling to my tiny sliver of forever?
Shall I undream of what we can become together?
Shall I unremember the light on your face?
Shall I unrecall my saving grace?
Shall I ungrasp this love I know true,
But the question is...

Is it possible to unlove you?
Pauline Celerio Jan 2016
Our moment is lost in time.
A single moment of something right.
A moment that I owe to fate
Until it ended and it's too late.
And if we are to meet again
I don't know how, I don't know when.
Amidst the lanterns in the rain
Frontrunner of the parade.
And since that day you stole the night
I'm left with stars to wish upon;
One by one, disappears the light
And my burning heart is left undone.
I dared to seek even I am blind
I dared to find, I dared to fight.
But fate is a fiddler, forever a riddler
And truth in the eyes of a weary soldier.
And if success is hidden from my palm
I guess the storm is in the calm.
So come find me and seize the day,
Surround in heat and start the flame.
Defy the odds and sweep me off my feet
And in the sour, you'll be the sweet.
Come find me now, I'm done finding you,
I dare you to come find me too.
For Don. Come find me.
Pauline Celerio Jan 2014
I am and I dream
And there is no one to hinder
I believe
that the time to start is now.
To start is to see the goal
And step forward one by one.
I feel
that the closer I get
the stronger I become.
To move is find courage.
I conquer.
Savoring the taste of victory;
Breathing in the scent of success;
The thundering applause echo in;
I have grasped the goal.
At last! At last!
I look back the track I have walked
And remembered the pain I've through.
I looked forward once again
And saw the goal ahead.
In this never-ending quest,
In this never-ending hope.
I see and I believe.
I can and I conquer.
And when I arrive, I surmise
I am here.
Because I am and I dream.
Pauline Celerio May 2020
I gaze upon my windowpane
as the sun utters its goodbyes.
Mixed hues of blue, red, and orange,
grace the stillness of the summer sky.
I lived within these walls,
48 days and counting.
The light beckons, the heat calls
me out from my endless hiding.
The longing for the wind
and a greeting from my neighbor,
feels like fire in the harshest of winters.
But for now all I have is my window,
my paper and a pen--
giving me faith for a brighter tomorrow,
for this too, shall end.
In commemoration of my month and a half quarantine. The window is my only access to the outside world.
Pauline Celerio Oct 2014
I hear the whimper of a sad owl in the middle of the burning night
I hear the tears falling from silence.
I hear the whisper of the beating, living, loving heart.
I hear the pain of the paper, the brittle, torn-apart.
I hear the trembling voice of a singer-mute,
I hear the glory in the hearts of youth.
I hear the thundering thoughts of a curious mind,
I hear the music of a broken light.
I hear the sorrow of a happy smile,
I hear the everlasting love, everlasting time.
I hear the whimper of a sad owl in the middle of the burning night,
I hear the tears falling from a distance inside.
I hear the glaze of the autumn rain beginning to fall,
I hear it as I write.
I hear it all.
Pauline Celerio Dec 2014
Forgive me if I were to blame
I'd gladly accept my fate.
But remember that I
am not perfect and I
sometimes make mistakes.

Forgive me if I were to blame
I'd gladly stay away.
But I am ready to forget
and move on with life,
you just give me the sign.

Forgive me if I were to blame,
but if it is not the case,
this I want to say:
Please don't let one mistake
ruin the friendship we have had.
Please don't let one mistake
define who I am.

I am not perfect.
I am not all-knowing.
But I'm ready to forgive and forget.
Just let me.

In my one mistake, please don't be blind,
to all the things I did right.
Pauline Celerio Mar 2016
When you are already tired of feeling
I guess it is a time for healing
For when you seek something you cannot find
Maybe it is the journey that is not right.
And when you feel the burning bridges little by little
You look forward to a time you cannot cross it
So you do not feel the pain all at once
So you are ready to let it go.
When you are already tired of smiling
I guess this is where you stop
Where you can be yourself once more
Away from prying eyes, you cry your burning tears.
When you are tired of all the sorrow
In finding good where there is none
Looking forward for tomorrow
of getting up and getting gone.
And when you are tired of expecting
You simply do not at all;
You learn to accept, and you learn to let go
So you won't crash in your downfall.
That is when your heart freezes.
No traces.
Emotions cease.
And finally,

Peace.
This is the kind of 'indifference' that I feel right now. No expectations, no pain. Learn, let go, and live on.
Pauline Celerio Jan 2016
They say love is a many splendor thing
The fireworks, bright lights, the biggest surprise
But I don’t think splendor is everything
Love is a silent lurker of the night

It is in the rainbow after the rain
It is in the words of a poet’s hand
It is in the moments that will remain
Unnoticed, until someone understands.

Love is in the thoughts of ‘how was your day?’
Your eyes, the way you light up when you smile.
Love is in the black, the white, and the gray
It is in the journey, it takes a while.

Love is in the music but nonetheless,
Love is also beautiful in silence.
Pauline Celerio Sep 2015
I put a wall around my heart
because I'm tired of hurting.
I'm tired of holding the pain
of carrying this burden.
I put a wall around my heart
because it has already broken
and it needs to find reprieve
from the world unforgiven.
I put a wall around my heart
because it needs to find the brave
the brave who would cross the boundary
of blood and pain.
I put a wall around my heart
because it desperately needs saving
from one soul who would truly heal
the scars of its battle.
I put a wall around my heart
because it is the last that I have
It is the last that will hold
the life that I am.
I put a wall around my heart
but one day I am hoping
one day I will be strong enough
to endure.
To feel.
And make myself unbreakable.
One day will surely come
when I'll wake up and thank the stars
that once, I put a wall around my heart.
Pauline Celerio Jan 2014
I'm here.
                                                                                                                                                         You're there.
I daydream.
                                                                                                                                                  You don't see me.
My world is in fiction.  
                                                                                                                        Your world does not include me.
                        I pass by the busy halls.
                                                                                  You pass by the busy halls.
                                                                    I walk.
                                                                    You walk.
                                                                                        I walk.
                                                    You walk.
                                                                                        I know I passed by you.
                                 I'm just a random face.
                                                                                                I stop.
            You still walk.
                                                                                                I glanced over and saw your retreating back.
You disappear.
u disappear.
disappear.
ppear.
ar.
r.

                                                                                                   I sigh and walk on.
                                                                                                   I replay it in my head.
                                                                                                   Just a glance is enough.
                                                                                                   I know I cannot wish for more.

      The time passes.
                                  The time passes.
                                                               The time passes.
                                                                                             The time passes.
                                                                                                                          The time passes.
You savor the victory of your team.
                                                                                                   I savor the victory of seeing you smile.
It's a golden path you have to take,
                                                                                                   And I'm still wishing you're mine.
                                                           The year is about to end.
You're still there.
                                                                                                                                                        I'm still here.
You still make my heart beat.
                                                                                                                                 I'm still stuck waiting here.
                                                     It has been so many years since then,
                                                                                                                                 I saw you again.
                               &nb
Pauline Celerio Jun 2015
We met in a matter of chance.
A chance, one million to one.
Too tired to be indifferent.
So I gave in and opened my heart.
We talked in a matter of hours.
And discovered everything new.
Your words held a power,
that I decided to pursue.
Your music is a treasure,
And I shared mine too.
Your face flashed in my future,
I thought I finally found you.
We talked in a matter of days.
And until then I wondered.
Why won't you make a way,
for us to find each other?
I constantly imagined you and me,
falling in love so desperately.
But my dreams found wonderland,
And I was left in reality.
In a moment I could have said,
what I felt for you.
And in a moment I finally knew,
why you can't love me too.
You're holding another's hand,
and sharing another's heart.
I finally fully understand,
A world breaking apart.
Why did you have to be so good,
in pretending you like me too?
Why did you have to be so good,
in making me fall in love with you?
Why did you have to make me feel,
that I am one among the many?
Why did you have to wait until,
I'm far beyond saving?
And why did I have to believe you so?
I should have known it long ago.
Why did I have to risk my heart,
So you can put another battle scar?
I was so lost in my dream of a fairytale,
that I was blind to everything else;
It could have been better; it could have been us,
But you turned this breeze into dust.
For the guy who made me feel special. I was a fool to believe you.
Pauline Celerio Jan 2014
I live because I love
Though love has become tainted
with sweet-nothings and promises
that people cannot keep.
I live because I love
Though love has become a dream
of a fantasy world and white horses
but never in reality.
I live because I love.
Even if they tell me there is nothing but pain
But pain is because of perfection
And perfection does not remain.
I live because I love.
Though they tell me there is no forever
That one day I'm going to wake up
With the broken pieces of my heart.
I live because I love.
Because I believe in happy endings.
And happiness does not mean
only smiles and laughter.
I live because I love.
Because I believe in forever.
And forever is not the endless time,
But the endless chances to love better.
I live because I love.
Because I accept that we sometimes err,
And love is forgiveness,
To start anew, to start over.
But if I think I've loved enough,
I've been hurt enough,
I've cried enough,
I realize
That I haven't loved at all.
The time will come when I will be gone,
But I know I'll say I've lived because I loved.
Time will pass and people will still wonder,
about life, love,
and the reality of forever.
Pauline Celerio Jan 2016
Like the sunset dancing out the horizon
Beautiful like the colors, the radiance of the night
Heart beats faster than bullet trains
Pounding harder than pouring rain
While you cradle my soul with you tonight
Let the music carry you to me
And let my voice be heard in your fantasy
Maybe, then you’ll know
But baby you’re a long way home
Time is running, there’s no escape
Running faster till it’s too late
And things will never be the same
And the silence will have its price
But the words will still survive
While my heart joins you to where you are
Let the music carry you to me
And let my voice be heard in your fantasy
Maybe, then you’ll know
But baby you’re a long way home
Distance is only just a number
Cause you’re still burning brighter
in anywhere I go
I hope raindrops will carry on the sadness
the tears that I won’t shed
when I let you go
Maybe, then you’ll know
But baby you’re a long way home
So maybe it’s time to go
Cause baby we’re both a long way home
We’re a long way home
The five days I have known you will be forever burned in my memory. Distance is just a number but time is the enemy. Thank you for being a part of my life.
Pauline Celerio Jul 2020
The future is uncertain
like a blank canvas,
And you are the painter
of your masterpiece.
Each stroke is important,
as each color is precious.
And your portrait is
the sum of your life's lessons.
Your lived experience is what makes you unique.
Pauline Celerio Sep 2020
No matter how far,
No matter how long,
I will be right here
writing you songs--
this is the way I love from a distance.
The world is unkind,
fates intertwined,
I'll be right here
holding you signs,
so you'll always find your way
back home to me.

With all of me,
I'll love you--
This is my oath to you.
It has been months since I last felt your warmth.
Pauline Celerio Nov 2015
People say forever is the only kind of perfection
But some say, "No, it's only a deception."
But I do not need forever if there is right now,
I long have accepted that you will leave me somehow.
Every hour is precious, every moment is gold.
You are one of the memories I will always hold.
I long have expected this soon-to-be heartbreak,
So I broke a little bit of mine every time, to ease the pain.
I thank you for the good times, it has been fun and great.
And the next we see each other is a matter of fate.
I will always be wondering what-could-have-beens
And I will always be pondering what-would-it-seems
I don't need forever where I can't have you
So I will settle for an hour where I can hold you
But alas this has come to an end,
So I guess I have to bid you farewell, my friend.
You showed me how finite good days can be
But you gave me perfection in every second, indeed.
I am forever grateful for the finite perfection you have become to me.
Pauline Celerio Jun 2016
In the riddles of my rhymes
Are hidden storylines
Of love and goodbyes.

In the inkless writing pieces
Are my heart's deepest secrets
Unearthed.
Pauline Celerio Jun 2016
Maybe this is not our time.
Or maybe you're not mine.
But let my words bear witness
That at this certain moment
I am thinking of you, of us
And of the future that we shouldn't rush.
I am letting you go while still holding on
A sliver of hope that you'll be the one.
But this is not a cage for you and me
Because I want a love that is given free.
So if our path does not cross again,
Maybe it is the will of the heavens.
Or maybe this is not our time.
Or maybe you're not mine.
The silence is deafening.
Pauline Celerio Apr 2020
Silver clouds
Summer rain
A change of pace
in quarantine.
I look beyond,
majestic skies
I long to wander
the great outside.
Summer rainshower from my window is a quick reprieve from the monotone of quarantine living.
Pauline Celerio Jan 2014
I am just another person
Unimportant as a speck of dust
In this beautiful paradise.
But there is something I can do
And I'll do it with love
and trust and sacrifice.
I am just another face
in this beautiful world
But I will hold your hand
And feel your pain.
I am just another girl
one of life's mysteries
But I will embrace my enemy
just as I would with my sister.
I am only a flicker,
and as mysterious as life is
I will soon return to the skies
But at least I helped my neighbor
without thinking of myself.
For I know that in being selfless
There is bravery.
There is love.
There is both.
For I know that in being selfless
Is the bravest thing
in this world.
Still I am just another
And another would be born
At least I left a memory
of a heart that is warmed.
Pauline Celerio Jul 2020
Your shoes are yours to fill,
and only yours to wear.
Your shoes are yours to change,
and only yours to possess.

Your shoes will take you
to the destination you so desire;
Because darling, your shoes
will never be the same as mine.
Follow your own path, wear your own shoes.
Pauline Celerio Jan 2017
There are tales that I have told
And you have words you
haven't spoken--
There are lessons I haven't learned
And time we both have
wasted
If our conversations
were our connection,
Then your silence
is the dissolution.
If our conversations
were my confessions,
Then I guess your silence
is my rejection.

And that is how
a love I cultivate
Always ends.
And this is how
I heal my wounds--
Always in silence.
And that is how I move on. In silence.
Pauline Celerio Feb 2022
Skin to skin,
Bones to bones;
I love you with every
fiber of my soul.

You weaved your place,
Your Persian blue
Into the tapestry
Of my amber hue.

How picturesque
Our sunset sky,
With embroideries
of amaranth divine,
like Venus’ blessing in disguise.
Happy Valentine’s everyone!
Pauline Celerio Jun 2019
Small frame but big ambitions
Small steps but a steady direction
Small girl with a great mind,
Strong, independent, and kind.
The world is big and the road is tough,
You may be small,
But you are more than enough.
For a friend. You are more than enough.
Pauline Celerio Aug 2016
Rain drops on the pavement.
The cold wind blows ahead.
Blank stare while I’m waiting,
for a fading memory.
Everyday’s the same thing,
but a little less of you.
My heavy heart is lifting,
for a thrill of something new.
You made me feel I’m falling
and then I guess I fell.
But down here on the ground
I guess it’s hard to tell.
But it’s strange when I remember,
and it’s strange when I don’t care.
It’s strange to think that
I think I’m over you.
It’s strange to feel not
to feel anything for you,
It’s a change of space, pace
Ways rearranged.
It’s a change of space, pace
Days not the same.
And we’re getting better
at being strangers.
So better that it’s strange.
"And we're getting better at being strangers...so better that it's strange." - how aptly it describes what we are now
Pauline Celerio Aug 2018
Oh how long I have been waiting
Alone in this table for two
But one glance from across the room
I knew it was you.

At the right time.
At the right moment.
Pauline Celerio Jan 2014
I love you.
But as long as I don't take the risk
There will be nothing special.
But I treasure the friendship
we have right now
and this feeling that I want to suppress
keeps on growing somehow.
I tell myself to forget you.
And for once I did.
But one glimpse
One smile
Those heart-wrenching eyes
took me back to square one.
I love you.
But as long as I don't do anything
There will be nothing.
I treasure the something we have right now
And I don't want to lose you somehow
and be forever gone.
I love you.
But as long as I'm writing this poem
My feelings just take control
And I spill my heart into the pages.
I wake up every morning
thinking maybe I can see you
And I go back every evening,
thinking tomorrow maybe I would.
I want to ask you.
Do I have the chance?
Do I somehow have that spot in your heart?
Or am I just another girl?
This is unfair.
I keep on thinking of you.
But do you think about me too?
I keep on loving you.
But do you love me as much as I do?
I love you.
But as long as I keep pretending
As long as I fear the unknown
As long as you don't understand
You would never ever know.




Someday,
I'll tell you someday.
But for now,
This is just gonna be another day.
Pauline Celerio Jan 2014
Once upon a time in a land faraway
Was a little bird who wished to fly.
Decked on the branch of the sturdiest tree,
He wished to someday soar so high.
He watched the blazing September sun,
and felt the chilly mountain breeze--
But the beauty he wished to the mountain god
Was to finally have his own pair of wings.
The seasons changed and leaves have fallen,
But the little bird has never forgotten.
Someday he'd join his father soar,
in the beauty of the lovely September morn.
The seasons changed and the leaves have grown,
Yet the little bird still wished to fly;
And little has the little bird known,
that the mountain god has already tried.
The god has given the wings he wanted,
and gave it to his father dearest.
But the mighty father with the greatest feather,
has hidden the wings the little bird wanted.
The seasons changed and the flowers mourned,
And the little bird still wished to fly,
and when the mighty sun has finally adjourned,
the little bird was left to cry.
But one strange December night,
the little bird saw his father come,
and up in flames his father light,
the wings that was supposedly his.
The little bird did not understand,
and his father said he did it for love
and the little bird has nothing left
But a memory of the wings long gone.
The little bird did not understand,
for he knew he was born for the sky,
and never again would he feel the land,
And never again would he hope to fly.
The father thought his son was fine,
and showered him with everything:
But then his son, with his piercing eyes,
told his father to remind:

"What's a sun without its fire,
to bring its light to everything?
I'm meant to soar, I'm meant to fly,
But what's a bird without his wings?"
Pauline Celerio Dec 2023
Dive with me in the sea of clouds
To search for what we lost and found
A joyful hopeful serenade
Echoing from far away.

And further down the sea of haze
We find a golden manta ray
With wings so strong to dance around
To guide the travelers safe and sound.

“Where will you go, my dearest friend,
What do you seek this very moment?”

“A song so beautiful like summer rain,
A song I haven’t heard in years.”

The manta ray began to glow
“Follow me and off we go!”
We swam beyond the evergreens
And swam against the northern winds.

We float into the ocean breeze,
Sang our battle cry ferociously.
Soothed our tired arms with our histories,
And rose again to find our piece
Of puzzle we have sought for long
How many months was that ago?
For the manta ray to lead us through
The cliff we once dove right into.

“Oh, my dearest friend, I don’t understand,
Why you brought us here to this barren land?
We searched for life into the sea of clouds,
But you led us here, the long way around?”

The manta ray held its breath,
The silence seemed so deafening.
But there it was, the echoing;
A song of love beneath the winter chill.

“You might think this was all for naught,
But you never lost the song you sought.
Forged from fire, your friendship brings
Warmth that only a heart can sing.”

Oh what joy to dance again,
To lose oneself in the merriment!
How long we pursued, while the truth eludes,
In the sea of clouds, we were born anew.

And in the final moment
Of the final beat,
The manta ray began to retreat!
Lightning blue
Indescribable hues
“This is how far I’ll go,
I wish you well.”
And in the end,
our manta ray friend,
Shed a tear so iridescent.

“We’ll meet again, please don’t forget
A heart that sings is eternal;
The serenade is in the journey of every step,
And the warmth of friendship is universal.”
Cheers to friends who are with you in every step and every day.
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