Lonely writer in the dark;
Sipping sorrows with my damaged heart.
To you I plea, to you I stand,
to test the time and toughness of this land.
Though my soul wails
As your presence set sails;
And my dignity scattered like entrails,
As I continue to flee from their blackmails;
I will remember you,
And your silhouette so stark;
burn our memories, as onto a cd that’s new;
even though the chance to be back with you is too damp for a spark.
Can you fathom, sentient being, that I love you?
Your smile fleeting as fast as the wind;
Do you feel the flame that resides in my heart,
Or the seething anger from my lips when you are scarred?
Darling daughter, does death daunt thee?
For the forest is fruitful with fleeting fickle flesh;
The living, the lost, the forsaken, lies low in loneliness;
Beneath the burrowed sand, brown; and the weather breezy;
Sing with me, under the star-studded sky by the sea;
Embrace me, as my lips kiss the flask of tears,
With which my weary wistful weeping has decided to win;
Where later, snow stays on top of cars and counters and streetlights.
A friend or foe, a fiery fiend,
Has life always been this unpreened?
The raging wind within me screams;
The impatient roar of unspilled whims;
What have I done, I beg for pardon of my actions uncouth;
Yet stubbornly, still I fathom,
The sting of death that came from your mouth,
So instead of reality digging daggers with words,
I’d rather you pushed me down a chasm.
What more is left for a stranger;
Whose whole being was left with a crater?
Why can’t they let us sit with ease,
Storms have built up with no release!
And paradise couldn’t be any nearer;
Or so I thought when I looked in the mirror;
Thoughts of precipitation still linger;
But would they forgive me, a sinner…
Amidst the unrest,
The untangle pieces I couldn’t digest;
Was all a happy ending, water and grease?
I finally ask as I grieve to my knees.
Lorri Anne Morren T. Muyco who is a Grade 12 student from Davao City. The poem was inspired by the Exhibit, ‘Poetry & Prose’ held at La Herencia, Davao on November 13-30, 2022 The Exhibit has an open call for everyone who would, like to write a reflective output. This is the winning entry. Here you see the work of the painter.