Night Swimming

Night Swimming by April Pagaling I practiced hurtlike how pearls are cultivated,methodically, with attention,this art of controlled wounding. I too became skilledin the art of turning trauma lustrous.This is how: first,you learn to treasure what hurts you,learn how beautiful things comefrom bodies in distress. But the ocean knows better.It knows the differencebetween cultivation and calcification,between […]
Lesson on Flowers

Lesson on Flowers The flower openswithout violence. This is whatI learned in elementaryhow resistance livesin softness. I stand in the kitchen, watchingpetals drift into my teacup,thinking of mother’s handsfolding white sheets,how they will yellowwith time. Everything palebecomes something else. In dreams, I am notthis daughter who changeswithout permission. I amthe space between what shesaved and […]
Night Inventory

The absence of connection burns differently than the absence of touch. A poem about loneliness and how two bodies can share a bed while their hearts inhabit separate countries.
Morning Augury

Walking around in Sagada and finding this beautiful spider web. A meditation on grief and finding comfort in unexpected places and a reflection on rebuilding and survival.
Hamog ng Enero

The chill of January mornings in Marinduque and navigating the cold, thinking of unspoken young love. Discover how the Sea of Clouds intertwines with the warmth of a fleeting smile in this introspective poem.
Your Name

Your Name is a poem written by April Pagaling about memory and the inadequacy of language to capture the depth of human emotion. It invites readers to reflect on the universal experience of love and loss, and the way we all, in our own way, are “cataloguing departures.”
Poem – A Mother’s Vigil

A deeply personal exploration of mothering a child with bipolar disorder. This poem captures the quiet moments of nighttime vigilance, exploring themes of maternal love, anxiety, and hope. Part of the “Modern Motherhood” poetry series.
As I Go I Wear You | Contemporary Poem About Loss and Memory

A haunting exploration of how we carry those we’ve lost in our daily habits and routines. This poem looks into the ways grief transforms our everyday actions into memorials of love and loss.