Five AM.

Dawn is the one remnant of the 1800s left in all of us - the weather. And even that disappears quickly. The pockets of morning stuck between you and me, between this car, and that car, and Dawn's Appalachian highway slipping itself in between the SLEX and the sky take your breath away and slip past consciousnesses like faint dreams. You snap awake. ****** reminder that it's already

Five AM.

Faint strains of rooster crow and traffic whistle keeping you up despite your desire to sleep. This bus ride is meant for sleeping, rather. Your teammates lean on pillowcases shifting hues from black to gray to light pink to faint orange. You stare quietly out the ever shifting window. Somehow your eyes keep track of the streaks of light running alongside it. Somehow you're awake even if it's just

Five AM.

The sky is the one part of our cities that isn't yet covered in *******. Outlines of shantytowns and exhaust smoke belching smokestacks and piggeries and overpriced skyscrapers provide platforms for the sun's pink rays to shine upon but still it rises above it. With it. Through it. Over and around. Sunset mornings that glow with an innocent hue. Some say Apollo preferred the form of a young boy whenever he'd come down to Earth. Makes for easier running, I guess. The roads look wider at

Five AM.

The sky is the one part of our cities that isn't yet covered in *******. The time it takes for one photon of light to hit the surface of the Earth is eight minutes. Light is far. Light is distant and twisted and radiant. Light provides surface for the sky - paints the floors of heaven by which we gaze upon with bleary eyes and pray to. God walking on our ceilings. Humans knocking on our floors. Alarm clocks reminding me it's just

Five AM.

It's just

Five AM.

you know when you miss someone so much
it’s like tsunami tides washing over you
and it almost hurts to breathe
you just stand there, not knowing what to do
overcome with emotions that makes you think of days long gone
and people that have walked away from you.

i didn’t expect you to be gone so soon—
i feel like our conversation is still hanging in the air
just waiting to be continued

i still have so many things to say to you
but i guess they’re going to have to be
left unsaid, forever stuck in my throat

sometimes i sit here with my heartache
raging quietly inside of myself
and i don’t know what to do with my hands
my chest feels tight
and i feel like i am drowning

i want this feeling to stop now but i know it’s going to take a while
so i just sit here and try to repress it
because i don’t want to let it overcome me.

Nagkaroon ng gana
Na magkaroon ng
Sana
Ganito kami
Sana
Ganyan din kami
Sana
Ganoon lang kami
Sana
Eh hanggang sana lang ba lagi
Ang hantungan ng tao?
Hindi
Sana

Cheers to Life

Cheers to the people I met, and to the people who stayed, and to the people who left, and to the people who will leave.

Cheers to those who caused my life heartaches, and cheers to those who stood beside me in those heartaches.

Cheers to those who made me laugh, and to those who made me mad.

Cheers to the difficulties of life that has made me stronger than who I was yesterday.

Cheers to those memories that end in bliss, and cheers to those memories that leave a bitter taste.

But cheers--- Cheers anyway!

Cheers to the girl that is deeply embedded in my heart. (I'll never forget. I seriously never will.)
Cheers to the brother I never had. (You are awesome, and a brother will always be a brother.)
Cheers to the friends who help you keep warm in the cold days, and nights. (Much cheers. Much Cheers to you!)
Cheers to the choices, and mistakes that will be made. (May it cause me to become stronger than who I am today.)

Cheers to life!
Cheers to new adventures!
Cheers to new heartaches!

And

Cheers to God----
For everything.

Here. There is no
Sorrow. There is no
Suffering –
Here. There is no
Weeping. There is no
Crying. There is no
Mourning –
Here. There is no
Day time. There is no
Night time. There no
Them, us –
Here. There is no
You. There is no
Me -
Here. There is only

The nightingale
Treads light
And trembling, grins;

Tread carefully
As she spreads
Her wings.