CW CBL FOLIO

LITERARY MAGAZINE MAR'24

UN VEI LED CAMINONG, JUL DINGLASAN, JBEN MARCELO, LEN PERDIDO, NATE PUMA, JOHNNY CREATIVE WRITING

CBL FEST

LITERARY MAGAZINE MAR'24

UN VEI LED CAMINONG, JUL DINGLASAN, JBEN MARCELO, LEN PERDIDO, NATE PUMA, JOHNNY CREATIVE WRITING

CBL FEST

No Longer

by Jul Caminong .......... 01 Eyes Open, Ears Closed

by Jben Dinglasan ....... 02 When One is 1

by Jben Dinglasan ....... 03

TA BLE OF CON TENTS

Dante and Virgil in Hell

by Len Marcelo ........... 04 Freedom in a Cage

by John Puma .............. 06 True Colors

by Nate Perdido .......... 07 Reflections of the Poets and Closing Remarks .... 08

Foreword First of all, we would like to express our utmost thanks to Ms. Trixie who had been guiding us through CBL this term with every strand of her patience, though we were confused, unresponsive, and slow to do tasks. We are all new to CBL, even the teachers, and are the first batch to implement it, so it's understandable that there are errors and things to revise to execute it better for the batches to follow. Ms. Trixie had helped us through these difficulties with all that she could, encouraging us to think critically for ourselves without spoon-feeding us answers directly. It may have been tough but this Literary Folio/Zine/Anthology of poetry is evidence of the hard work that every one of us had put into CBL. This Literary Folio focuses on SOGIE, as well as the discrimination that people receive based on it.

No Longer by Juliana Caminong A young child, knowing deep in their heart that they were different, A young child, living day by day hearing the taunting of elders about someplace, a fiery place for sinners to suffer, but is to love a sin?

I had liked a girl once, out of many, yet it was the most burdensome of all, I had thought liking was giddy– was beautiful– was freeing, but I was told that God only put obstacles in my life to overcome, and this was one of them.

I was told that I would marry one day, that I would find the man of my dreams, that I would forget all this admiration for a girl, that I would change from “tomboy” and become “girly.”

The taunting and teasing whenever I passed by, accompanied by laughter and laced with ridicule, for they had known that I liked a girl, a girl that made even the most intolerable days bearable, a girl that shone like a star on the brink of death.

Things have changed now, I like that girl no longer, I get teased no longer, and I cared no longer, for I now hope that everything is well for all that have experienced this.

01

Eyes Open, Ears Closed

by Jben D

02

Dinglasan

When One is 1

03

Dante and Virgil in Hell

by William-Adolphe Bouguereau

Ekphrasis by Len Marcelo

04

I feel my heart most when my skin pulls and keeps it it is right against my chest it is like an ear to the beating when I struggle to reach him He was everything That I had wanted to be, and I told to myself he was mine to be Though, as a friend And my hope, and wisdom, and all else A guidance of which pulses within me And friend, at best, for now, for a poet does best at hiding things prettily He says the things he must

05

Freedom in a Cage by John Puma Acquired from Rappler, 2023

In the art of life, colors are endless, A fragment of love, for everyone to see.

Yet in others eyes, it’s a horrible act, To love differently, in their own way.

I paint the truth with bold brushstrokes, A masterpiece of love, yet not told.

But society’s gaze, so cold and sharp, Leaves me feeling small, a mere helpless kitten.

I am free, to love without fear, Yet, still in a cage I sit, in fear, I am free, yet still fear of being hated, I am free, yet still being hated.

I dream of a world where theres no hate, Where love is endless, no hate and limitations.

Now, I am free, yet in a cage, Freedom, in a cage.

06

True Colors by Nate Perdido Sister told me a secret she’d never tell Mom and Dad. Sister said she would rather marry a girl than a boy. I found it weird, so I asked her why.

Sister said she never fell for any boy in her class, no matter how big their muscles or heart was. My Sister told me that it doesn’t matter if you like to kiss someone of your gender; that’s love no matter what. I understood what she was trying to say to me, but why did she not want to tell Mom and Dad? I kept wondering why my sister didn't want to tell Mom and Dad until I asked a friend in middle school who had the same problem as my sister.

He told me he feared telling his parents who he was. I wondered why, and he said they might not love him anymore. There, I still couldn’t understand. Why would people not love someone for who they are? I was taught that people should love one another regardless of who they are. So why would he be afraid to reveal his true colors? I still couldn't understand why.

In high school, my confusion grew to anger. I found a girl on the dangerous side of the guardrail about to jump. I asked why she wanted to kill herself, and she said her parents were sending her far away. I was confused, and she told me that her parents didn't accept who she was.

They said to her that it’s a sin to court your gender and that she should repent to God. I wondered why anyone would say something like this.

That’s when confusion grew to anger. I want to oppose these people who won’t let their colors fly. I want to protest against the people who think it’s okay to put people like her down. I want everyone to love thy neighbor because isn’t that what God told us? I know the things I’ve learned from religion, but it doesn't justify the feelings that these people preserved. So please, if you can hear me, let people love who they want.

07

Reflections of the Poets from Juliana Caminong: I feel that CBL is more difficult this term because it has more fleshed out goals, in comparison to the first term when we just had a vague theme to follow for our Major Fiction Work. I feel that with CBL expanding into research, it became our main focus instead of the intended subject for workshop. I understand that there were some time constraints, but it became more hectic than ever. Challenge-Based Learning sounds very good in theory, but as of right now, it's application is still in the early stages so it's hard to see if it really helps the students. Overall, our main topic for CBL is a very important thing to tackle, especially as arts students as we are taught to express ourselves, though we have very limited reach as of right now, we still hope to contribute to the cause of SOGIE.

from Jben Dinglasan: CBL was an okay experience. Even though the start wasn’t that bad, when we got to expanding our big idea there was a bit of difficulty. The big idea taught me more about the issue than what I’ve already known and surprised me on some areas of the topic. CBL showed me that a clear view on the topic could lead to an output of the same degree. Working towards a goal as a team gave me confidence and motivation in doing the task. However, CBL at its core was a fun yet taxing experience and although I didn’t really learn a lot, throughout the journey I learned valuable insights and different perspectives.

from Len Marcelo: I did not enjoy CBL very much. While the prospect of being able to voice out — at least, learning to — my thoughts about an issue that was very dear to me, I struggled chasing after the time constraints and the process of fleshing out the actual ‘research’ portion of itself. The simplest part of it for me was the area where we ‘may express the significance of the subject in our own sense,’ since I valued the community and the experiences within it, and felt close to it. However, it was easier to figure out the gap between interest and practical research in my situation when the other groups shared their criticisms constructively. While there was supposed to be struggle or discomfort, in the process of this recently proposed mode of learning, I feel I absorbed (or remembered) more of the struggle than the actual learning itself.

08

from Nate Perdido: No given reflection

from John Puma: CBL was alright. Ms, and other people taught me a lot of things, even way before. They taught me how to express myself more, and how to socialize a lot, even taught me how to write properly, learning endless lessons about more writing skills. Everything about CBL is fun, and it’ll always have a special place is in my heart. I cant wait to learn more and make friends, in this journey we embark.

09

THANK YOU FOR READING!