as the Sun retreats
to the horizon
light escapes the walls
of their temporary home
in the heart of a forest.
the little boy tugs on the clothes
of their mother,
the remnant of a decision
that would haunt them
for as long as they lived.
beside aniki, the Arisaka rests
clasped in his arms like a pillow
the comfort of cold steel
is better than warm blood
that isn’t theirs.
the little boy fixates at the cloudless sky
tears start flowing, like the blood
on his knee, trickling to the ground
as the shooting stars
have finally come.
he could hear aniki
murmuring in between clenched
teeth and fists—a prayer,
but the gods
have already left them.
Raphael Luis J. Salise an incoming sophomore in UP Mindanao, under the BA English Creative Writing program. He likes to read poems, plays, and short stories by Filipino authors as he also aspires to someday become a successful writer like them.