To this day,
your name
still hurts my tongue
but I still say it anyway.
Sometimes I like to
hear my soul
gently tear itself
apart.

I am
A chair
A wall
There
Ignored
A floor
A ceiling
A door
Floating
A heart
Barely breathing.
I am
A rhyme
Birthed
Before it's time
Written
Between
The lines.
I am
A tired
Rhythm
Of
Yesterday
Still
In today

Why is poetry dying
when we still have the gift?
If we still have water
then we still have a ship.
We can sail to the places
these words take us.
We are still shaken
by the words that make us.
Why should we let poetry die
when there is so much to explore?
If only people read it
and discovered more.

Ako'y napamahal sa isang munting butiun
Di man masyadong halata pero sa aki'y walang siyang kahambing
Isang bituing sa mata ko'y palaging numiningning
At sa kabila ng dami ng bituin siya parin ang mamahalin

Ako ay tumaya sa pag ikot ng ruleta
Tumaya dahil umaasang sakin ito'y tatama
Sa sobrang dami ng aking tinaya tila'y nawalan ng pagasa
Pano ba naman ni isang beses ako'y hindi pinagpala

i loved you
not because of your scent
or because of the crinkle in your eyes

i did not love you
because of the melody in your laughter
or the brightness of your smile

no.

i did not love you because you gave me flowers
or because you sang me a song.

and i certainly did not love you
because of the warmth of your embrace
or the softness of your hand in mine.

i did not love you
because you stayed up hours to talk to me.

no.

i loved you because you saw what no one else
ever saw in me.

i opened my closet of monsters to you
and even with fear in your eyes
you embraced me.

i loved you because
you still stayed beside me
despite the fact i was not as beautiful as you.

i loved you because of the gentle patience
you gave to me when i was filled with nothing
but doubt and despair.

i loved you because of the time
you spent with me
when i was scared of my own self.

i loved you because despite the fear i instilled in not only
myself, but you as well,
you tamed me.

you loved me when i did not love myself
and for that,
i truly did love you.