Forever in trouble for arts sake
for people's duties and mistakes
but soft and pure the plan is drawn
with hands like feathers but mouths as claws.

poppies and chamomile bloomed roads,
covered in warm dust... such a pity
that these are the only ones left
to be pointing towards the eternal city,

where marble and stone still stand
on places gods used to walk bare-footed,
where belief was more than just demand,
until cassocks have had ancient ways sooted.

A place where manner was turned into art
And polymaths emerged from genius creation,
where Latin blood spills from heart to mart
In a continuous state of vibrant elation.

where green is the colour of oils and lust
and the sun can burn to a lemon flavour,
and the sand on the front of the boot is black
and the wine is more than a bitter-sweet savour...

There, where a walk through square paved markets
is bursting with hand-made stories,
where scratching through history's pride
would always end in timeless glory...

He knows not how the toner trails,
I know how my conduits drain themselves.
Forming a queue while spitting blood
They’re an anemic residue.

He knows not how to freshen my palate,
With warmth, I see no remedy
My so-fatigued heart,
I was a monochrome in plastic wares.

I wasn’t a prototype, but a derivative.
Seclusion I abhor, indeed my life too

112715 #10AM

Baka nalason na siya sa usok
Na binubuga ng mga nakababahing na mekanismo.
Siya'y nalulumbay kaya't ako'y nabihag niya,
Nabihag -- nabighani
Sa kanyang kumikinang na pustura,
Siyang bughaw na bistida at magbabagong-bihis pa.

Umiiyak siya, kaya't hindi ko na ininda,
Nagbakasakaling mapatahan siya --
Nang di bumugso ang galit
Patungo sa konkreto't pinira-pirasong bakal
Pagkat mga abang, ni hindi ninais na maugatan.

Bulong ko ang lihim na pagtingin,
"Anuman ang iyong kulay
Ang dilag mo'y kabigha-bighani
Kaya lubos kitang iniibig,
Aking panghabangbuhay na kaibigan,
O Langit na Irog."

112715 #4:47PM

May linyang pahalang at patayo,
Ni hindi magpapatisod sa pising sinusuyo.
Sila’y liliko sa bawat espayo,
Bagkus Ako’y sa’yong puso ang tungo.

Mag-aabang sa bawat palapag,
Sana sa beranda’y, ikaw ang siyang umaga.
Sana sa kusina’y maihain ang tama –
Tamang timpla ng walang tagas na pagsinta.

Isasantabi Ko ang mga butil na balakid,
Hahaluin ang konkretong sabaw ay sirit ng pag-ibig.
Papalitadahan natin ang kisameng may bituin,
At doon tayo niningas ng panimulang may layunin.

Irog, ang puso Ko’y nasa hulog at hinog,
Kasingputi ng pinturang
pantapal sa putikan **** suot.
Nang minsang nilukot ang puso **** papel,
Ni hindi ito nayuraka’t nalumot sa lente Kong nasa lebel.

Hayaan **** iguhit Ko ang bukas,
Nang pundasyo’y uugat sa bato’t di patutumba.
Hubad at bitak-bitak ang luwad **** pagkatao,
Kaya’t di hahayaang kontratahin ng iba.
At sa akin sana’y magpaubaya ng “Oo”
Nang maging ako na ang butihin **** Arkitekto.

The concrete jungle.
Home of the dreaded concrete beasts
Who lie in plain sight for the world to see

Crouched in marble ledges, twisted in metal beams
Wrapped around handrails, perched in their cemented trees
They laugh at those who cannot perceive
Because they don’t believe.

And who am I,
Yes possibly me
To find my identity
In removing my wooden sword from its sheath

Placing it beneath my two shuffled feet
To answer the alluring call of the beasts beckoning
To my hero’s heart, for my eyes to blink
To suddenly see them as they were meant to be.

In a world between
Real and imaginary.

For it is I,
Yes I believe it to be
Chosen to find my destiny
In a single push

That propels me
Into the path of the snarling beasts
Approaching their stairs and rails, ledges and beams
Gaps and bumps and ramps with speed

And as they stare at me hungrily
Opening their mouths expecting me
I will stand strong on my wooden sword
As the wheels of fire erupt beneath

And the scenery blurs in the flash of the rapidity
I bend my knees and grit my teeth
My eyes narrow and the drum in my chest crescendos its beat
A shout explodes from my chest, a primal scream

As I press on
In the concrete jungle.

Home of the dreaded concrete beasts
Who quiver in plain sight for the world to see
And whimper at the sight of who they now perceive
Because I do believe.

And it is I,
Yes undoubtedly me
Who will find my destiny
Conquering the concrete jungles of the world unseen

Surfing the concrete waves of the world between
With my loyal vessel being the wooden sword from the sheath,
That remains steady in the face of danger beneath my feet.

I am alive
In the concrete jungle.

You’re not allowed to step into the house.
You’re not allowed to open your mouth too widely,
your ugly teeth bared and gnashing. You aren’t allowed to be that close,
so close your mouth and sip your tea through the window,
where expensive and matching dining chairs circle around a table
set for nothing, for no one,
because you can’t touch that silverware. You can’t wash those plates.
You can’t fit, your neck so long that your head is in the clouds,
your not-quite-bony legs serving as a reminder that your feet are still on the ground.
Can you feel your heart in your throat?
The way that it pulses every time you rest your chin on the roof or
the way it pounds when you’re at the doorway, much too close to this house
that you bought and built and you aren’t allowed inside. Why won’t they let you inside?
Why won’t you let yourself inside?
Invite yourself in; maybe your head will come down from the clouds and
your heart won’t beat quite so obnoxiously loud and you can
smile in a mirror while flashing all your ugly teeth.
You can’t build a house without thinking about how you’ll fit into it:
that’s basic architecture, basic design, basic
everything that you never bothered to learn,
bent on keeping your head so much higher than the ceiling.
Asymmetric, sloping,
like your shoulders and the alignment of your eyes
and your crooked smiles and ******* tongue,
like white lies and broken foundations
and a doorknob that doesn’t work,
doesn’t turn,
won’t let me in
despite the fact that I built this place with my bare hands.
It doesn’t recognize me anymore, a fantasy
so tangled up with reality
that all the nightmares and anxiety ruin even my cloudiest positivity.
I built myself a world and a future
in which I myself am not allowed to enter.
Maybe I should brush up on my knowledge of basic architecture,
because God, I’m horrible at interior design
and mapping things out ahead of time.
I’ve tried just living without but the winter gets chilly and weakens my bones
and it really sets in without the warmth of a home.

"Gusto ko nang lumaya, pero alam kong kailangan mo ako."* -Dagang Electrically Dextrosed

"Pahingi ng kumot, nilalamig na ako." - Kapeng Medyo Mainit (May pinagdaraanan: Evaporation)

"Patayin mo na ako habang wala pang nakakakita, tutal, yun at yun lang din naman ang gagawin mo eh!" - Puyat na Fluorescent Lamp

"Relax lang, sandal ka lang." - Pasensyosong Silya

"Alam ko pagod ka na, tara na." - Kamang Wala sa Lugar

"Hinding-hindi kita iiwan." - Mapagmahal na Eyebag

"Kailangan naming mag-grow! Walang makakapigil s amin!" - Unstoppable Pimples

"Tama na yan!" - **Zombie ko