He parked the Kia
at the bangketa—
children screamed “kuya,”
children screamed “kuya…”
Strings of white flowers
in the hands of small Maria,
her fingers tapped, “kuya,”
on the window of his Kia…
He opened the door
and let her sit inside
that air-conditioned Kia,
that dark-tinted Kia…
He locked her door
and started to undress her.
Her fingers trembled, “kuya,”
inside that freezing Kia…
He let her out
at the bangketa—
children screamed “kuya,”
children screamed “kuya…”
—-
Marius Monsanto studies Creative Writing at the University of the Philippines Mindanao. He was a fellow at the Iligan National Writers Workshop last year.