#neverforget
Tila namanhid na ang babahaang landas
walang patid ang agos ng luha, habang walang habas
ang malupit na lilik-panggamas -
patuloy ang tila nag-aamok na pagwasiwas.
Kahit mura pa ang uhay
ng nagbubuntis na palay
Namúti na ang katiwala ng mga bunso't panganay:
Walang sinanto ang pakay
ng aninong sumalakay.
Sinimot pati ipa. Ang imbakang burnay
tuyung-tuyô, tila balóng patáy.
Ubos na ang mga ninuno sa Purok
Ang mga inanak at inapo, tila mga but-o ng kapok
nangalat na sa malalayong pook
Hindi na tumalab ang mga erihiyang tampok
Ang lamping ibinalot, balót na ng usok.
Ang binalot na kapirasong pusod, bakas na lamang ng balok.
Karipas na ang binatilyong habol ang mutyang pailaya.
May baon pang pagkain, pagsasaluhan pag nagkita
Ngunit mabilis na napawi ang tanawing kasiya-siya
Ang natapong lomi, natabunan na ng aspalto’t palitada
kasama ng mga bakas nina Utoy at mga kabarkada
sa ilang dekadang araw-araw na pagbagtas, nakasipit at gura
mula sa Baryo Balintawak hanggang Lumang Baraka sa Lipa -
Di na makilala. Wangis ay mistisong pilipit. Ay! Pilpinas pala!
Sep 21, 2024
Sep 21, 2024 at 7:41 AM UTC
Pilit hinahabol ng gunting-pamugot
ang tanging dugsong na duguang pusod,
huminto’t tumigil, piniringang may-takot
ang pangalan ng saksi sa mga sagot -
pusod, di-makita, hila ng sanggol na supót,
nag-anyong kabayo, takbo nang takbo
ngunit di abutan, kawatang kangkarot,
akmang tatakas sa malupit na bangungot
mabuti’t nag-iwan ng aklat, Gat Patnugot,
at tila ebanghelyong liwanag ang dulot -
kapag namulat ka’y mahahawi ang ulap at ulop
Kay sarap lumayang tila tsokolateng malambot.
Sep 26, 2021
Sep 26, 2021 at 7:50 AM UTC
Grant me witnessing all ‘round I go
Let me be uncomfortable
In my sadness
In my spite
In my veins our ancestors’ strife
Their oppression chiseled in depths
Of my subconscious—mayn’t I forget
In my every privileged sigh
In every nightmare’s death
And all of my trivial achievement
That their blood inks this gazette
That my soul echoes their last breath
For justice—mayn’t I
Move idly and yield
To transient relief
To false gods
To defeatism
That my heart numbs
To the cries of my people
To the destruction of our homes
To the monarchy of traitors
Let me hear it everywhere I go
Let me be uncomfortable
Sep 22, 2021
Sep 22, 2021 at 10:06 PM UTC
Sometimes I am naked
and look at myself.
My tan skin looks less brown than it looks grey
like ashes;
Perhaps it's grey like the burned cultures,
the damages traditions
and bombarded destinies.
When I put my dark hand
onto someone's fair skin
I see the ashes
and I'm reminded of histories we'll never get to cherish.
Apr 11, 2021
Apr 11, 2021 at 5:08 AM UTC
Pain has always been there
To help remind us that we're alive.
But not all pain hurts the same.
A broken heart starts with a shock.
A bullet, a hole of fire.
A stab or slice, a sting.
A punch or kick, an ache.
But the worst pain isn't physical.
It's psychological.
Over time, you may forget the pain
Of being shot, stabbed, or punched.
But you'll never forget the words
That were said or the fear you felt.
The point is,
There are different types of pain.
But none of them hurt
or heal the same.
Mar 14, 2021
Mar 14, 2021 at 7:59 PM UTC
When I called
I said I needed resolution
When we met
That’s what you gave me
I could see it cost you
When you wanted to hold me.
Your hands reached for me
but made do with air.
We were so short lived
innocent of body but
falling in love is not innocent
when married to others.
Your child needs to see you
And you need him
You will continue
wife of coercive control
and I will let you.
Today I’ve woken
With a calm about me
Tentative tranquility.
I’ll never forget you.
Dec 4, 2020
Dec 4, 2020 at 3:37 PM UTC
We will never forget...
The last day dawns on my life
And I don't know it
As I wake up to golden rays
Of sun knocking on my eyelids.
I kissed my wife good morning,
Got up out of bed
And tucked her in again.
Naomi spent 10 hours last night
Delivering a new mother's firstborn.
I didn't tell her good morning
And I wish I told her I loved her
But I didn't want to wake her.
I sipped my coffee on the way to work
As if it were any other day,
My only worry was if I had spilled any
On the new pink and white
Polka-dot tie my daughter Elise
Had bought me for my birthday
Last weekend
Or the new Bostonian shoes
My wife gave me
With the card that read,
We love you from top to bottom!
I walked into the conference room
And checked my watch:
8:36.
I was 9 minutes early
To the most exciting moment
Of my career:
My first pitch as project manager
For the new country club going up
East of the city in Glenwood Landing.
I was 10 minutes early
To the most helpless moment
Of my life.
At 8:45 I said good morning
To many fine ladies and gentlemen...
Bankers, lawyers, city representatives,
A union boss, some secretaries,
And a stenographer in the back.
The same words I would never again say to my wife and child...
And immediately I was thrown
Through the air
And knocked against the righthand wall
Of the room.
I was utterly confused
And my face burned
From the coffee I had been holding
That now stained
My beautiful polka-dot tie.
It would be nothing compared to the heat I would soon face.
Outside our 111th-story window
Rose an obsidian plume of smoke.
We all knew something terrible
Had happened just a few floors below.
The fine ladies and gentlemen
Of a moment ago
Quickly turned into uncivilized beasts
As the lights went out
And the piercing scream of the fire alarm
Shouted louder than the new mother
Experiencing the pain
Of her first childbirth.
Smoke very quickly came from below
And filled the floor with the foulest odor
I had ever smelled:
Burning rubber, sulfur,
And burnt hair.
Others in the room sealed the door shut
With expensive overcoats and undershirts
From Armani and Burberry.
They tried the phone countless times
But the line was dead.
I looked down at my watch
As a bead of sweat fell from my brow
And landed on my new tie:
9:11.
Today's date.
The fire alarm got tired of yelling
And the room was filled with an
Uncomfortable rumbling sound...
Flames...
...and the hysterical wails of the
Fine ladies and gentlemen in the room.
Some prayed, some wept together,
Others wept alone.
The one thing we all had in common
Was the persistent coughing
From the obsidian smoke
Slicing our lungs.
I looked down at my watch:
9:23.
The heat was now almost unbearable.
We huddled around the window
Jack or John or Jim smashed
With the powerful throw
Of a mini-refigerator.
When I gazed out the window
At the same sun that kissed my eyelids
This morning,
I was calm.
I thought of Naomi, who was
Surely watching on television
As her family called her to make sure
Her and I and Elise were alright.
Daddy's alright, baby girl.
I'm alright, Naoms.
9:31...
Gary or Greg was the first to jump.
I'll make it home to you, angels.
9:32...
Sophia or Cynthia was next.
Please, God, get me out of here...
9:33...
Jack or John or Jim
And Patty or Peggy
Were each other's last hug
As they fell
Like two stars from heaven.
9:35...
I couldn't see
And I couldn't breathe.
The sunlight was the last thing to kiss me.
Before I jumped
I felt my girls.
I touched the tie on my neck
And the shoes on my feet.
I love you both
From top to bottom.
Sep 11, 2020
Sep 11, 2020 at 11:38 PM UTC
what makes you think
as a cisgender human
you have any right
to dictate how others live
how they were born?
their skin colour isn't a choice
neither is their gender
so why ****** them for being different?
Jul 1, 2019
Jul 1, 2019 at 6:38 AM UTC
My daughter
I am so proud of you
Never forget that
Apr 8, 2019
Apr 8, 2019 at 10:37 AM UTC
Sight of eyes
Overlapping mine
Maybe destiny or
Even fate
Together we had an
Instant connection
My heart pounced with
Elevated emotion
So much
Wondrous love
Everlasting
Happiness spread
Around like a
Virus never
Ending together
That is love
Or maybe
Love is when
Even when you want
Them to stay they
Go up
abOve the clouds
But never forgot
United
Their memories
Never leaving them
Over your form
They watch
Forever until you go
Over that
bRoken bridge
Granted to spend
Eternal life
Together again
Nov 13, 2018
Nov 13, 2018 at 10:22 AM UTC
let them be heard from beyond the grave,
let them tell the stories of everyone
ravished and burned
buried alongside the evils the ignorant and privileged
threw six feet below this blood-soiled land
while the fool who granted himself
the glory, the honor, the memory that will never be rightfully his,
lies peacefully in a sacred place
do not silence them if they shake the streets with rage
do not shame them if they burn the metro with blinding fury
this is the least we can do, we cannot simply contain the memory
of every homes extinguished into grey smoke,
of every dungeons that turned into homes,
of every child that only had hunger and violence
for teachers rather than their parents,
of every girl that was marked against her will,
of every iron fist that instilled fear,
of every every bullet fired onwards from that day
of the humanity that ceased to be
let the people fight for the yesteryears,
let it be known that the deeds of the devil will never be forgotten
let it be heard that for as long as we draw breath,
he will be condemned back to hell,he will pay for his crimes
and along with him are those that do not speak their minds,
that choose to remain foolishly blind,
that do not sympathise,
let them all be reminded:
history cannot be changed, only remembered
and if bound to be repeated, will be fought like hell because the Filipino may fall but never bend, may falter but never break, may stand in front of the edge, but with crimson-soaked cheeks and wounded fists,
we will take with us to the death, our oath: never forget. --W
Sep 21, 2018
Sep 21, 2018 at 3:38 AM UTC
I pray for thousands of innocents
Who died because of 19 sinners
I wished for the wandering souls in earth
To be accepted on the side of our Creator
Bless the souls who died in Pentagon
Bless the souls who died in World Trade Center
Bless the souls of the hijacked aircraft's passengers
So they will rejoice, in the Land Of Promised
For the ones that lost their family, friends or their siblings
I want you guys to think positive and keep smiling
Because of that incident
They could enjoy their new lifes in Heaven
The place where pain never exist
And known as it's Holy
The place where our heart will never resist
To enjoy the eternal life and live happily
Rest In Peace
And you all will be missed
Sep 11, 2018
Sep 11, 2018 at 8:53 PM UTC
I have no memory of it,
Yet I know of the history that befell the United States,
Seventeen years ago this year.
Smoke...
Planes...
Panic...
Death...
Rescue...
These are what leave us speechless
Yet have made America more aware.
May we remain vigilant not for attacks,
But vigilant when we see those lost again.
Sep 10, 2018
Sep 10, 2018 at 8:36 PM UTC
I'm standing here
Looking in the mirror
Running my bleeding hands over the glass
Feeling every slice and every ****
And looking back at me
If the little girl I used to be
She says what have you done to me
You have killed and buried me
I see in her eyes who I used to be
When I was the captain of that cheer team
Being that beautiful girl I was never meant to be
But behind her I see the demon
That came over me
That ripped me to shreds and
Pulled me into the rivers of blood and dread
The scars that cover me from the fights
The demons have broken my wings
And thrown me to the depths
But they forgot I have claws
So I'm climbing from the depths
I'm fighting for her
The girl thrown to the curb
I sing for her
I fight for her
I bleed for her
So I take one last look into the mirror
And destroy it that girl was fought her war
Now I will fight mine
Aug 18, 2018
Aug 18, 2018 at 9:55 PM UTC
Panic.
The final sound of the door being locked from outside.
Mothers crying for children. Children crying for Mothers.
Hundreds of people shoving you into corners trying to reach loved ones.
A young boy falls to the floor, the mother watches him being trampled, unable to move, unable to breathe.
My lungs are screaming for air.
Where? Why?
Fear.
Stumbling into an unknown darkness.
The fear of falling asleep and never waking up.
Contemplating whether death is better than this.
The terrifying crack of a shotgun.
A silence howling with anxiety.
The beating of the engine counting down minutes perfectly synchronised with my heart.
The lady next to me has her eyes closed, I shake her, silently praying for her to be asleep, she doesn’t stir.
Despair.
I’ve lost track of time, two days, three days, a never ending eternity?
Death surrounds me, trying to pull me in to envelop me, it’s so hard to fight, so easy to welcome.
I am surrounded by people, but have never felt so alone.
We are running on animal instincts, whatever food we have we don’t share.
On this train, good morals ****
Agony.
The heat, the stifling heat. It is dizzying, nauseating.
The air is too thick to breathe, to live.
There is an overpowering stench, caused by the heat, the absence of a toilet and death.
There is not much space, but what space there is, is filled by a suffocating heat, a choking smell and burning grief.
Pain is soaring through my veins, a toxic predator pouncing on every fibre of hope in my exhausted body.
Embarrassment.
They have reduced us to animals.
I am embarrassed, embarrassed of my hygiene, embarrassed of my inability to do anything, embarrassed of my selfishness.
Embarrassment is no worse than ****** as when a person is embarrassed they wish to be dead.
It is emotional homicide.
Exhaustion.
I am so tired.
My body is crumpled, being held up by others, some dead, some wishing to be dead.
At first I was focused on surviving, my body was fighting, but now I’m too tired to fight.
My hunger is now just a numb aching, but my thirst seems to be pounding every cell in my body, a constant beating.
I am tired of crying, tired of praying, tired of hearing other people’s cries, tired of hearing other people’s prayers.
Hope.
I hear a voice, singing.
A mother to her child.
The sweet sound of her voice seems to dissolve the clouds of pain and misery hanging over us.
Another voice joins in, a man’s voice.
Two more people join in; gradually the whole carriage starts to sing, united.
I join in grasping for the shreds of energy I didn’t think I had.
We sing louder and louder, our voices drown out the protesting orders to stop.
The train slows to a stop, and the doors slide open.
I breathe, and for the first time in too long, my lungs are satisfied with the oxygen that reaches them.
As our bodies rush out of the carriage, still singing, I am filled with a new sense of hope that whatever is coming next couldn’t possibly be worse than what I’d just been through.
Could it?
Aug 17, 2018
Aug 17, 2018 at 7:03 PM UTC
You can think whatever you like.
That’s the freedom of thought.
Experience leads you to perception,
so let me tell you stories about
you.
There was once a time
where we were at odds,
and our spirits acted as
poles on a magnet.
I tried hard to turn myself around
but I ended up in an uncontrolled spin.
Ever gaining velocity
from your push.
There was once a time
where you were deceitful
and purposely put me in a situation
where I had to keep quiet
about your pathetic inability
to have an ounce of self-control.
There was once a time
I coddled you in a moment of pain.
I sacrificed my focus,
for your feelings,
as friends do.
There was once a time
where you invaded my personal space
without permission.
Too intoxicated to remember
but vain enough to run from the truth
of your unwelcomed actions.
There are many times
when the words that flow
out of your mind
and to your mouth
are convoluted, primitive
thoughtless, and egocentric.
There is now a time
where I do not call you friend.
When the veil has been burned to ashes,
and all that remains
is the same exact person
you claim to have slayed.
****** predator, pathological liar,
selfish, and narrow minded.
People never change.
May 16, 2018
May 16, 2018 at 11:19 AM UTC
Forever there
Remember the faces of those people this world has lost.
They are never truly gone, so let them never walk alone.
Keep them inside your heart until the end of all things,
For they are the one’s worth remembering.
People we meet in fleeting moments could change our world completely;
But those who are gone are fading away into history.
So let us remember all of the fallen,
For they are no longer here to tell their tale;
So let us be the one’s who are reaching out for them.
Let their voices echo throughout the years.
Let their memories shape the love inside our tears.
Let a piece of them remain with us wherever we may go,
Because they will always remind us of how lucky we are to have a home.
Never forget the time we never had, but we also shared.
We may have been strangers, but we were all here once
And one day we will all be forever there.
(C)2017 Aa Harvey. All Rights Reserved.
May 6, 2018
May 6, 2018 at 2:52 PM UTC
I love the one who makes me laugh for no reason
I love the one I've made it through all the seasons
I love the curve of his smile and the way his eyes grow when he sees me
I love the one who took the bitter out of my heart and replaced it with glee
I will never forget the touch of his skin for the first time
I will never forget the hours we spent on my back porch listening to the wind chimes
I will never forget the everlasting kiss that sealed our fate
I will never forget the words that took away my breath , "Would you want to date?"
I will never forget and always love the one
Apr 25, 2018
Apr 25, 2018 at 11:39 AM UTC
You may travel long!
but never forget what/who
made you suffer/strong!!
Apr 23, 2018
Apr 23, 2018 at 5:28 PM UTC
Boy that I mean
Who I interested
He cool and cold
Yes.
Complete.
Somehow he makes me fill in his situation, in his world
Somehow I lost it
Somehow I don't understand what to do with him
How grateful, we get 'time' that
Unexpected we did together
So, I promise will do anythings with heart never want to fail and keep confident..
That 'cool boy' ; drug of life.
Why? Can you describe what thing or person can make you more wide and friendly to be?
I choose him ( one of many things)
He isn't my ambision, just like my qoute hanged in wall.
Every day I read it, see it, and fill me.
Oh yah, he just like pathogens inject my receptor antibody.
Oke that's already flat.
Bye for prepare anygoodbyes.
Apr 14, 2018
Apr 14, 2018 at 10:44 AM UTC
Darkness needs no fancy tricks to mess up your whole day.
He simply must sit and wait for you to go astray.
There is plenty here without his help to bring you down to size.
He laughs and watches from his perch with amusement in his eyes.
For rarely does he need to act in any special way
He simply whispers your own fears back, toying with his prey.
A rude remark, a sneer or glance from someone you don't know
Are just some tools he can use to keep you down and low.
So look up my friend to the sky and try never to forget
That life is short, but oh it's worth not to heed his threats.
For once you learn his secret tricks you see them rather quickly
Allowing you to shake it off and move along more swiftly.
Oct 26, 2017
Oct 26, 2017 at 9:09 AM UTC
16 years ago many woke up not knowing this day would be their last
coworkers, Friends, Couples, Brothers, Sisters, All lost in the Rubble
The Attacks left us scared and afraid
But We banded together to show the ones who wanted to break us that we won't back down
It is hard to think that on a normal day that the news that Mommy or Daddy wouldn't come home
had to be given to young children
It is hurtful to think that there are people out there that want to hurt us
It is scary that there are people who won't even remember the day and the events that took place simply because they weren't alive.
But Today we remember the Events that happened that changed the course of history
In Our Eyes
Forever
Sep 11, 2017
Sep 11, 2017 at 9:01 PM UTC