Maaaring narito ka ngayon
ang sakit na iyong naidulot
ay pansamantala mo ring mapapawi.
Muling maipipinta ang isang magandang ngiti
sa aking mukha. Ngunit kasabay
nito ay ang mas masakit pang parusa.
Ika'y magbabalik at habang buhay
akong lilisanin. Ang iyong alaalala
ay matatakpan ng panibagong tagsibol.
Ang sakit ay madadagdagan pa ng
nag-uumapaw na damdamin.
Mabuti pang ika'y hindi nagbalik
nang sa gayon, hindi umasa ang
mga tuyot na rosas na ito'y
muli pang mamumulaklak.

Taking a sip from his mug.
Sugar, the vanilla and the cream
romancing.
I asked forgiveness,
this animated disposition,
a weak voice to comfort,
he never forgets the white chocolate,
the looking back.

Everything went still,
the conversation,
hot metal, pull the plug.
The tender puffiness,
the greatest,
the best seats.

It was time to
the timer of the oven
slowly
overcooked.
Dream of him, a phone call,
ashes.
His heart beating
wanting to be alone.

The rain starts to fall--
The darkness covers the sky
what more at night time.

Love.
You came like aurora
appearing with the mist
of a cloudy horizon
carrying the boundless
admiration of your oceanic eyes.
You waited over bridges
we’re about to cross.
In calmness
and life bouys
directing my heart
in a field where dragonflies
are coupled with yellow grass
along the revealing peak
of a mountain and smoke
coming from last night’s bonfire.
Love.
All I feel for you now
is love.

Remember when you called me a traveler?
Perhaps, I knew then.
I wander under the pale blue sky
til my feet bring me to you.
I can never measure the horizon
or how long I've gone to finally
reach you.
And I have you---
too close we almost breathe each other
arms folded
and thighs twined together
I whispered to you---
"This is my destination, to you."
and remember when you called me a traveler?
Then, I start walking again.

Once in a while
let us not be frightened
of ghosts living within
our bodies.
Let us forget the routines
that make our lives
machine-made.
Let our music be played
one afternoon
until the world hears our
pains and the things we can't contain.
Dance pirouettes—whirling gracefully,
knowing the center of the earth.
That we are the center of the earth
spinning to find one another
although we carry
the same heavy roots
of our past.
But of all these things
we are uncertain of—
let us keep ourselves boldly
with our faith
with our love.

"It's my birthday!" you said.
Oh--you sure want a
Cuppycake.
Then i'll give it to you--
plainly white frost
with rainbow hued sprinkles.
"Can I eat it now?" you asked.
Oh--of course honey.
Giddy, giddy
you ate the whole
and choke.

How do we measure distance--
we both live from point to point
and seas in between
ships sail on the ocean floor
and we only have strong longings
that stars will move in favor of us.
We can only close our eyes
and hail
Indeed, we both love.
And one day
when we're asleep or awake from a dream
our bodies will change positions
across one path.

Water, carry me
to the waiting shore
where he placed
his delightful heart.
Let your tides rejuvenate
his deserted hands
and fill our voids
with sands and lovely shells.

Water, carry me
fold me in his arms
as we become islands
of ourselves
trying to prolong the night---
for in the morning
when the sun is shining
and the waves are calm
we will be washed
once again,
by time and space.

The hour between night and day
has made a promise of returning
to me.
In a bus station, I waited--
for a call
and for a ride to my destination
where clouds kiss my face
with a welcoming cold dew.
My ears only hear his voice,
a laughter I just once heard;
the awaited call!
The trees outside the window
keep on moving, but at the same time
still in their destined places.
The sky was painted blue
and the moon sets as the mark
of the greatest separation.
Today, I will see houses
built in every side of the mountains,
pine trees, strawberries
and his face drawn in my imaginary ocean.
Today, I am leaving
with a promise of returning--
to love.

Night falls
we travel like falling stars
trailed by one another,
we chase the earth
for a common space
and there, we melt gently
and bid a beautiful good bye.

Right after days
of silence and solitude
we, in pursuit of spaces
and magical grounds
collide in blue
dream-like refuge
far and allied
closely with birds
in harmony and array
I in berceuse,
you in dors.

Our hands test the night sky
calling all the stars luminous in this
large canvas of midnight blue--
We are an army of the smallest space we
occupy and yet we sought
for the stories the universe foretell.
We find them in the deepest mystery, that
we perhaps, are also a part of it.
Take me on the path we both chase,
let our souls swim in the unknown starscape,
to find beauty within ourselves.

Along the mountain crest you arrived
ever so quietly
like an old yearning at dawn.
But you are nowhere here,
only a ghostly glow
that breaks out to the world
to come into the stillness
that remains.
A translucent light
in this moment’s calm
fleeting from time to time.

Is this another shade of the moon?
Or another haunting—
a dredging up of memories
from some stranger’s eyes
that you may be buried deep
amidst the horizon
or the mountain hollows
always disappearing
when the wind gets cold.
No traces of your last movement.

Still wondering why you left
and why I’ve always remained
to look at the world's beauty awning
until the sun gathers its light
and carry me
by the eddying water
to find my own heart’s flow.

I want to know how it feels to flow in a quiet river
while my skins burn in a ray of your sunlight,
face the wild uproars of our temperament
and find myself in the fortress of your embrace,
your arms sail away in a large body of ocean
to meet mine, to fill the empty spaces of our longings,
grow a delicate flower with rocks and hardest bones
and love, and love you still.
Was it something dangerous
To flow, to love?

What if, my love, we were born
in an altered world
with your watercolors
and my panoramas
on the wall---
we can become the people
you never painted
and eat wedding breakfast on the table.

What if, my love, I can declare
that I'm the flower you picked
in the garden
and the only star you gazed
at night---
Perhaps, love could be
a sweet sweet thing
if only.

Tonight as I look into your eyes,
I feel like soulgazing.
Here you open your heart
and I binge myself briefly
for we know that time cannot hold still.
You are the ocean that frightens me
yet I remain in the deepest of you.
Your voice turns into a delicate instrument
but is firm and certain.
And as I sail, I no longer see your face only
my soul thrives in yours.
Tonight as I feel you inwardly,
I gather so much of you
and accept.

The movement of your fingers
forms lines I can only imagine
in the night
like tracing constellations
or counting stones
beneath the river miles.
I hear you play
in a certain distance,
between seas where the earth
ends.
I listen,
And welcome it fully,
And slowly,
slowly,
become part of
its melody.

Wherever.
There my heart rhymes.

The trees in mornings are the strangest.
As soon as the sun beams in the sky
and spreads its light to curtains,
they reach up for you
and long to touch your face.
The branches grow taller
and heavier
but its leaves are always gentle.
And sometimes,
we are trees
stretching our roots
to what limits us.

You said
we should chase the sun
before it sets
capture it with our
own little hands
and make it ours.

You said
we should embrace the moon
and keep it for a while
as we give ourselves
into the song
of night.

You said
we will never forget
the alignment of stars
even when it begins
to hide
forever.

You said
we will wait
til we know what's
love again----
behind these trees
standing longer than
a decade years.

You said
we will hold
but it is
us
we tend
to
lose.

Here I stretch my arms to the mountains,
listen fully to your voice as it becomes my own rhythm
and on the morrow, to wander more deeply--
curve my name in each tree of this wild
Then at last, we can free ourselves.

Do not look at me
as if I am only a part of your dream;
or a star out of your reach.
I am here.
Be brave
and grasp me fully.