Bunga ng Munting Punla

Ronajean May J. Lavado

Itong munting punla, Na itinanim sa lupa, Kung tiyak ang alaga, Siguradong ika’y mamamangha.

Sisibol ang mga dahon, Sasabay ang paglaki sa panahon, Mga ugat ay mas babaon, Tanda ng mas matatag na pundasyon.

Ngunit tandaan, panaho’y ‘di batid, Itong tanim, nalalanta, nababasa ng di lingid, At kung sakali ito’y tuluyang mawala sa gilid.

Nawa’y manaig ang pusong bukas, pursigido’t walang bahid.

Totoo, mahirap ang magsimulang muli, Lalo pa’t oras, panahon at lakas ay nadali. Subalit tandaan, pagkatalo’y may dala ring wagi, Mga bagong kaalaman ay mamamalagi.

Ang panibagong punla, Na itinanim sa lupa, na may bitbit ng tiyaga at tiyak na alaga, Ngayon ay pipitasin ko ng masagana.

in this busy street where people are sauntering like they don’t bring any weight inside them makes me wonder how can they not notice me?

I am here standing amidst streetlights, naked, yet, still not described by everyone. the light that roofed over me was darkled as I wore my shirts. I tried covering my entire being for I was afraid people that surround me would not swallow the hard pill I have to offer.

i started removing my clothes and the thorns inside me were slowly burning to ashes and left voids on my abode. wry it was that when I tucked myself people would demur me but when I’m in the raw they would lampoon me to death. where will I go?

i’m naked in this vast street nowhere to flee lost, and abandoned. please say, you accept me, I beg to thee.

John Zhidrik Galon

with the sun setting behind you, I never found it hard to peek in the flare. you were just there sitting, and I, in front of you, was mesmerized by your beauty— always.

your eyes were something I could never get tired of gazing at, and your soft and thin lips—I would forever want to kiss.

the sun behind you exploded it caused a great flash of white light that almost blinded me.

an asteroid then followed and defused on entry, but you never bothered to move an inch. you just took my hand, gripped it, wrapped your hands on my waist, then on my neck, pulled my body against your body— the people around us were already screaming. and suddenly, you were gone. and in one blink, the world became a garden. the crater from the asteroid with limbs and flowers smeared on it, the fire, the ashes, the faults, the crevices, and you, I was still looking for you. there were only two words coming out from our mouth before thehavoc wreaked— a language only the two of us could understand. if we try to ignore things and just put them to end, will they really be gone? if we won’t speak, when will we tell different stories? if the comfort just severs more than it should bind, do you still see me the same as the first time you saw me and said I was lovely? there and finally, I found you. nothing else mattered. I didn’t care if there was a dire plea, or bleakness, or oblivion. but I don’t see them; the skies are still blue. there is no stench in the seas. the garden doesn’t have deep craters. the world is normal. we acted like nothing happened. kissed for more; hugged even tighter. did the end of the world really happen?

StatHUE of Liberty

Miss A

In the abyss of turquoise & wavy ocean

Sans storm, sans sun

In Poseidon’s perpetual kingdom

From sailing free, deprive no one

Seize the moment, savor the freedom

While it lasts, enjoy like it’s always the last

Still, everything comes with limit

Thy accountability in every action shall meet

Freedom and responsibility are couple Inseparable, unbreakable

A Battle for What is True Against What is Right

Nom De Guerre

The truth is not a linear polarization

On the colored spectacles with lens’ hue shifting

Having different vibrance, different saturation

Making opinion is a beholder’s owning

Tho on certain spectacles, the trolls run like meth

Ravaging the Filipino strata bloke

They serve the son of the ill demon, Baphometh

The one whose teeth and jaws grinds grimace and packed coke

But on the battle of disinformation plight

If opinion is accepted more than truth

Normalizing twisted narratives and ill sleuth

On facts shun, lies glorify, history rewrite

A battle for what is true against what is right

For if the right is fabricated by the vile

Then be the left and scourge ablaze the toxic blight

Never again, never anew, we lay the tile

The right is not always what is branded as true

The truth is not always what is labeled right

Sometimes it’s shunned, it’s disgraced, it’s left in hindsight

Once shattered and broken up Laws are violated; punishment is up

Every breath, every act

That you do, that you don’t

Thee actions, thee words

Think a thousand times, you might hurt one

Shun everything but responsibility

Take this for this is the key

What a wonderful world it would be

If everyone colors’ liberty comes with responsibility

For if the truth is right, then why is he seated

Philippine nationalism is not sugar

It is more than noble savages and white knights

It is the youth fighting lies and distortion war

It is fighting for truth, not what is implied right

If they won, we still shout never ever again

We fight for truth, not what is right.