Poetry by Arielle Calañas | September 8, 2025
after “Alunsina takes a walk in the rain” by Conchitina Cruz
Whenever you’re scheduled to be lonely, the city takes a deep breath.
This is how it is now: sons and daughters scuttle home, the jeepneys race through the wet streets carrying the last batch of brave passengers. We look at the rivers and gauge your anger.
The prospect of going to the museum seemed to be the only interesting thing Carol could think of. She had no schedule or errands to run, and she had been pacing back and forth in the small hotel room like a caged animal. Besides, there was a newly opened museum in the city. People had raved about it on social media. Carol didn’t usually like to join the bandwagon, but she had no idea what else to do for the day, so she gave in.
Fiction by Mark Lhoyd Tampad | September 1, 2025
Tonton sat on the wooden chair, slowly untying his shoelaces, then unbuttoned his white polo uniform. It still smelled like the sun-dried flowers from the fabric conditioner his mother had used. Despite doing physical activities all day, from practicing their marching routine to playing with his classmates, his uniform was still as white as a sampaguita with no stains to be seen. He got a perfect score on his science test, so he eagerly took his test paper out of his Spiderman bag, excited to share the good news with his mother.
Nonfiction by Fu Vedic Marchan | August 25, 2025
It started the day I came to life. The man who impregnated my mother denied the blood that runs in my veins. “It’s not mine,” he said, parading his cowardice. He painted my mother as a Jezebel, a woman his mother would spit on, and hurled vicious insults our way.
It was my mother’s mother who saved us. “No honey of mine will remain unknown,” she declared. And so she named me Rich Knowledge, a name that would invite mockery and confusion, which people assumed belonged to a boy.
Fiction by Dhan Durango | August 25, 2025
Your slumped shoulders silhouetted your spindly frame as you sludged through the hallway on a Monday morning, last week’s Service Awards fermented in your thoughts like souring milk.
Manang, why weren’t you included there?
Fiction by Rica Bianca Caangay | July 30, 2025
Nilakaw si Mama. Mangumpra daw sya para sa among tindahan. Hurot na ang tsitsaron nga orange. Hurot na pud ang sardinas. Naa pay noodles pero gamay na lang pud.
Gisirad-an sa ni mama ang tindahan. Dili pa daw ko pwede magbantay. Dili pa ko kabalo muihap og kambyo. Katong nipalit og isa ka sigarilyo si Angkol Mario kay gikambyohan nako syag singko. Piso ra diay dapat to. Nalipat ko.
Ana si mama kay mubalik dayon siya. Sa duol ra daw sya mangumpra. Isa lang daw ka sakayan. Magpakyaw ra pud daw sya og tricycle pauli kay basin magbaguod daw sya sa iyang bitbit. Maghulat ra daw ko niya.
Poetry by Jonna Rhen Degamo | June 23, 2025
You always find a way
when everybody else fails to do so
How you humble yourself and ask for help
when we have nothing on the table
or when I don’t have money for school
How you always think of me in every place you go,
even in celebrations I couldn’t attend
So you keep a portion of your food and bring it home
Continue reading You Always Do
Poetry by Gine Mae Lagnason | June 23, 2025
—Madalíng isísi ang sála sa ibá,
Mahírap pigílin ang luhà sa matá.
Ang sayá sa malî ay sadyâ ng tadhanà.
Ang lumbáy sa hulí ay gantí ng gabà.—
Madalíng iwaksí ang saríling sála,
Isísi sa ibá ang pasáng parúsa.
Ngúnit káhit tákas ang pípi’t may bátik,
Ang puwáng ng luhà’y sa púso’y didikít.