“Abyan”

By Keren Faith Dilema

Halin pa sa akon pagkatawo, Ara na ang imo presensya. Bisan diin ko magsurong-surong, Yara ka gid kaupod.

Sang akon kabataan, Ikaw akon kahampang. Ginhawa ko nga kilala, Landong lang gali nga gasaot upod sakon bestida.

Have You Ever Been...?

By Nathalie Ortillo

Stood in front of the crowd, Never knew one could be found. Wandered around your eyes, Never knew they were full of lies.

Let my feelings grow, Watched it ache and drown. Let my tears flow, Watch it pool and roam.

Opened my mouth and whispered love, Felt the blood drop down. Opened my eyes once again, T'was you who wound it open.

Trusted you and thought twas enough, Dressed up like an innocent child to stand, In the crowd that we once shared memories with, Now, I vowed with my heart that I had never been.

Film Strip

By Lesel Erexima

Photograph

By Sharlyn Grace Palotes

A fleeting moment captured in time. Entombed forever, frozen in its prime. A memory that may fade away, But the image remains, forever to stay.

Framed upon a wall or tucked away? In the pocket of a coat, day after day. The youth, the love, the anger and the pain, All preserved, never to be lost again.

The poignancy of feelings, raw and true. Eternalized in a picture, to forever renew. The laughter, the tears, the joy and sorrow, Forever captured, to be re-lived tomorrow.

For though time marches on, and years may pass, The image remains to remind us, at last, Of a momentary second, now forever enshrined? A testament to the beauty of life left behind.

The Cathedral

By Karyl Eunice Anjao

“A Rewind of Timeless Mistakes”

By Maecel Joy Priolo

Going from child to childish to childlike is only a matter of time. In no more than a million years, everything will turn into rust from gold. As the clock ticks its last tick and points to three, a famine, disease, or an unseen battle will come. Although we have come this far and grand, we are still bounded by war and selfishness. Maybe we have been too careless of our actions, blinded by our own narcissism and inner child's desires. Perhaps we really are growing with age, but the question is “Are we really growing with intelligence and pure conscience?”

Did we miss the importance of knowing the importance of growing? How growing should be feeling and looking over others. But we overlooked this as we shrink back in time, and the world has caught up with our crimes. Now, it's payback time, and we must pay the price. Once again, Lucifer was surprised at the amount of life at Death Valley.

(Tick) Me Back

By Kiarrah Manzan

Fragments of Self

By Sharlyn Grace Palotes

I'm becoming more of a vessel of memories than a person; a collection of fragments pieced together by moments and emotions.

My past flows through me like a river, sometimes calm, sometimes turbulent, but always present, shaping who I am.

I carry the weight of my ancestors, their hopes, dreams, and struggles, woven into the fabric of my being.

Yet amidst the memories and echoes, I search for something truly mine, a sense of self that is not just a reflection.

I long to break free from the shackles of the past and present, to be reborn as something new, something whole.

But until then, I'll embrace the fragments, hold them close and let them guide me, until I can find my own way forward.

Newspaper

By Jennyfer Briones

Never, Again?

By Micah Ella Jaylo

She mourned for the blood that was never hers, but from the veins that protrude out of his neck for screeching in pain as the whip came lashing at his bare skin.

Him who came from yesterday's grave, down on his shaking knees, begging to see how the sun shone and the rain poured while a gun's pointed blankly at his nape.

And though she took his lifeless hand along with the masses to fight for the ashes and bones that received no light not too long ago

Their indelible ink came in red and green, splashing painful glory to an era unseen.

They snatched his death away from her hands to retake the whip and reuse the gun. To scream while stained with his blood stolen, while the truth's in the open.

History's forsaken.

Never just once, but once again.

“Ways to Look Back”

By Maecel Joy Priolo

The heavens have cried for the days that slipped away and chances – long gone.

By Cyrin Baticbatic