Shepherd / Pastol ni Lamberto Antonio

At first glance, Lamberto Antonio’s “Pastol” feels like stepping into an Amorsolo painting. You know the ones – golden light, carabaos in rice fields, that idealized Filipino rural life we’ve all seen in museums.

Night Swimming

By the Beach. Torrijos, Marinduque.

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 […]

The Witness

A scarecrow in an empty field.

The Witness by April Pagaling (in reply to “Wala Nang Tao sa Sta. Filomena”) You stand in the stubbled field,a scarecrow stripped of its purpose,shirt faded to the hue of stillborn harvests.January light knifes sideways,spilling shadows longer than your body,  stretching beyond the moment  of its making. I have witnessed this scene before.Escalante’s fencepost scarecrowdraped in a […]

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

Marinduque Sea of Clouds

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.