Liyab

Midnight Thoughts

Midnight Thoughts

Trigger Warning: rape, implied suicide EVERYTHING is dark. Someone calls my name. It asks me if I am okay. I jolt awake. I remember foggy memories of intrusive mouths and unwelcome hands touching me. Years have passed, but my nightmares remain all the same. I am almost an adult but…
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Hanggahan

Hanggahan

Hindi matatakpan ng mga makikinang na ilaw o malalambungan ng dilim ng gabi ang bawat kalsada at eskinita na iniikutan ng mga maniniil at mapang-api.   Katulad ng mga banyagang imperyalistang sa ating mga daungan ay tumuntong noon, dala nila ay pagbabanta sa buhay at kalayaan ng inosente man o…
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Silenced Chaos

Silenced Chaos

THE afternoon was dull when he went outside. Perhaps he could not find peace in his own home for with each path he crosses, he sees the misery behind one's mask. His world was covered in sickness, chaos, and corruption—each rest he takes seems wasted since all his mornings remain…
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In Pursuit of Normal

In Pursuit of Normal

SOMBER clouds loom overhead as gloom engulfs me—it is a feeling I have been accustomed to these past three months. Somehow, I feel strongly that I share the same sentiments with the rest of the world right now. Come dawn, everything remains the same, as days melt into months and…
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Walang Pag-ibig sa Dinuguang Lupa

Walang Pag-ibig sa Dinuguang Lupa

“SHOOT to kill,” sabi sa telebisyon. Nangyari nga ang kinatatakutan ng marami. Ang mahihirap na walang kalaban-laban sa kalupitan ay tinanggalan ng karapatan habang nakaluhod, at tinutukan ng dulo ng baril. Hindi nagtagal, sumunod ang alingawngaw ng pagputok at dumanak ang dugo na parang ilog sa kalye. “Nanlaban,” kabulaanan ng…
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Desperate Times

Desperate Times

IT was already past midnight and his strained eyes are still glued to the screen. He mumbles random curses when his beat-up laptop breaks down for the eighth time today, a bit less than the number of breakdowns he had throughout the making of his thesis. Despite the crisis, he…
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Nowhere

Nowhere

EDITOR'S NOTE: This piece is written in honor of Mother's Day. IT was already dark and Maria still could not find a ride home. Maria spent the whole day walking around, aimlessly finding a place that would accept her. Her employer had just fired her after she started coughing profusely…
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Endearing Semblance

Endearing Semblance

ENDURING is the word that comes to mind In thinking of your hallowed buildings And time-honored arch From egg white bricks to cinder blocks Your structures get built and destroyed; But reconstructed every time You have stood earlier than the birth of a nation, Raising its forefathers how to break…
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Behind Heroic Facades

Behind Heroic Facades

LIKE most children, I grew up admiring fictional characters with otherworldly powers. Equipped with their swords and shields, they served others through courage and self-sacrifice. To me, they were someone I absolutely admire. Before I knew it, the clock had struck evening. I heard the shuffling of familiar footfalls behind…
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Refresh

Refresh

THE gray dinosaur glared at me. Its dead white eyes stared at my distressed face. My brows furrowed. For the past ten minutes, I have been helplessly pressing Ctrl and F5. To no avail, the screen looked the same. I pressed the spacebar and the dinosaur sprang to life. Tap.…
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