You’re like an ocean for you always look calm.
But I know behind it is a ******* fire in town.
A woman who is being idolized by everyone;
For you got your word voiced out even if it’s troublesome sometime.

Your personality is like your favorite seaweed.
Spicy yet it gives something to cherish.
You’re like your favorite ramen noodles.
Mind with worries feels like doodled.

You are the sweetness to my bitterness.
By just your wiggling eyebrows, it causes happiness.
You are the chili to every made kimchi.
Always looks fine even if it’s orangey.

Your mood somehow blends with your favorite colors;
You have adopted the calmness of the blue sky; the balancing aura of gray;
The peacefulness of white; brown’s friendliness in a simple way.
These interesting sides of yours will always be remembered.

You are the sour taste in a homemade sinigang.
The happiness I felt in every chocolate’s bite.
You are the coldness in my ice cream;
That balances the feeling that is in warm.

Your dramas are amazing just like your Korean films.
Those songs I love to hear whenever you start to hymn.
You’re proving enough that there is this thing called forever.
I would miss your cheerful smiles and long your crazy laughter.

© Quenniebells, 2015

I'll tell you something,
When I'm with her,
It seems like heaven.
A feeling of enduring love and spirit
Pink skies, pink clouds, pink everything.

When with her, it feels like I'm home
Home is where the heart is.
She's the best person I've ever known.
She's better than anyone I've ever known.
Better than me I recon.
She's even better than my lola's Sinigang.
That's how best she is.

An epitome of beauty and kindness
A smirk that can create one's day
Dreamy eyes, soft cheeks
As Coldplay sings it,
"You're a sky full of stars
It's such a heavenly view"
There maybe cracks to Ms. Perfect,
But one thing's for sure,
I love her for who she is.

nana,

my love for you is immeasurable. i hold you with fierce love, packed into a brief and firm hug. i try to put all those years of pure love you've had for me and this entire family in a quick brush of my lips to your cheek. i hold you as if it was the last. i've never felt more joy than seeing you at the dinner table, smiling when i gave you some of the hot cocoa i made. hot cocoa, i know. it probably meant nothing to you, just another night at the dinner table. but in that moment, i understood.

i made that hot cocoa with love and i understood why you spent all those years on your feet, hunched over a huge *** of tinola. sinigang. mungo. pancit. i understood the love you put into everything you do, paralleling the love you have for this family.

i remember your face lighting up after taking that first sip. you're diabetic, believe me, i know. sugar is a privilege and your diet is strict. seeing you, with your hands wrapped around the mug and your smile lighting up your eyes. i saw youth. i saw happiness. you laughed. and i did too.

i know i haven't been the greatest granddaughter to you, and i'm sure i'll think of 500 ways i've wronged you in the future. but i just want to immortalize my sentiment, even if you'll never read this. i know i've strayed from tradition. i know i've took the opposite fork in the road. i know i'm not who you hoped i would be. but i also know that regardless you're still proud and that you love me. i just want you to know how much i love you too. and how i hope you understand. i love you.

It still hurts
If you will ask
Like being shot with countless fine cold needles
It pierce through my heart
Whenever your memories bypass

It's not the same anymore
Like eating spaghetti without tomato sauce
Like driving a bike with deflated wheels
Like eating sinigang without meat chunks
No, it's not the same

I don't write poems that frequent anymore
Nor short stories you used to love
I'm afraid to begin or start things now
For I worry that I might lose them too
Just like how the universe has taken you

I think I too died that day
For I only feel alive when I recall our moments together
And now after that dreadful morning, I realized
You died but lived a life
While I'm alive but not living.

I still ache for you
If you will ask
Like being shot with countless fine cold needles through my heart
I bleed whenever your memories bypass

It's not the same anymore
Like eating spaghetti without tomato sauce
Like driving a bike with deflated wheels
Like eating sinigang without meat chunks
No, life has not been the same

I feel robbed every day
Not of any material things
But of a chance to show and tell you
How much you mean to me

I don't write poems that frequent anymore
Nor short stories you used to love
I'm afraid to begin or start things now
For I worry that I might lose them too
Like how the universe has taken you

I think I too died that day
I only feel alive when I recall our moments together
And now after that dreadful morning, I realized
You died but lived a life
While I'm alive but not living

Nang araw na iyon
Minulat ko ang aking mga mata
Kasabay ng pagsikat ng araw
Sinimulan ko  ang labahin
Kasabay ng pagdilig sa hardin
Sinimulan ko na rin ang pagluto ng Sinigang
Kasabay ng sinaing
Sinimulan ko na rin ang paglampaso sa sahig
Kasabay ng hiling na sana'y hindi na kita isipin.

Nang araw na iyon
May nakalimutan pa ko?

Wala na.

Kasi kahit birthday mo
Hindi ko magawang
Kalimutan.