Category: Poetry

You are not the
size of the shirt you wear
nor the waistline that you have

You are not the
pimples on your face
nor the wrinkles under your tired eyes

You are not the
tangled hair of your head
nor the crooked front teeth when you smile

You are not the
hurtful words they say
nor the hateful things they think you are

You are the crocus that blooms
beautifully during spring

You are the stars
that shine so bright
when the night sky is clear

You are the sun
that gives life
to everything beneath it

You are the entire
universe to someone
you probably don’t even know it

yet.

—
Sums is currently a 3rd year student at Xavier University – Ateneo de Cagayan

Seated near the life-size poster of a man promulgating a clothing brand
Unfamiliar voices clouded the girl’s mind
She sits there, nonchalantly
Her eyes wandering
Observing people’s crooked smiles and arched eyebrows
Her senses falter, she loses track of time
Books piled up to her nose
Papers scattered in front of her, like stars seen when the sky is clear
She reaches for her phone inside her dusty purple bag.
None. No message from anyone, not even from her sim card’s service line
She places the device on top of the pile of books by her side.
She takes her pen and her little notebook
Scribbles a few lines trudging, pounding inside her head
Eager to be caught in the pen’s charmed ink
Her thoughts, rushing, bumping like wild beasts
Her hands, her pen, cannot keep up with the impossible
Words ran frantically in her fragile domain
And then abruptly she stops, gasps for air, for life
Tears surface from the wells of her heart
She lets go of the pen and covers her face with bare hands
“I’ve had enough remembering for the day.”
She reaches for her pen, not to write a line or two
“Now, back to work.” She whispers to herself
As she picks another test paper to look through
—
Sums is currently a 3rd year student at Xavier University – Ateneo de Cagayan