In the refrigerator: an unopened bottle of orange juice with half the sugar already missing because my mother remembered

My mother tells me of half recalled grandparents With possibility of tainted blood, of self destruction Of women who hid with their sisters

This is what joy looks like: palm to palm, radiant, mga kasama. Sing like every tomorrow is infinite

There is a part of me that knows my boyfriend is human/ but part of me still thinks him angel/ sprite/ fairy/ elf/everything soft

The darkness of The past frightens me For I once lost Myself, trapped in Society’s idea of perfection

A hit a sip then a chug then the lights start to strobe with a flash as it blinks as the thrill of the night hits a peak

Every morning in paradise, the locals go out to bury the remains  tourists have left in their wake under the sand.

In an unnamed grave, a few centuries after death, when they dig out my skeleton - from the pelvis and the skull

sleep soundly, as the warmness blankets you... these chilling, dark nights freeze hope to despair

Some things are too familiar, too kind, too simple; and I can’t buy Basmati rice anymore.

but you speak english so well... yes, I know, I do. you don't even have an accent... yes, I know, I don't.

a red tulip in a vase, its final petal ready to drop: a six year old child falls asleep, dreams of six petals wrapped around her

one night at bath time, my mother tries scrubbing the brown out of me, grating a ridged sponge over & over my skin, until i'm crying

The bells chime, The lyre, harp, and trumpet; The notes are the rays Of the moon

Careful, dear child, when you walk on earth.

Love expanded like a thought in my head circling like a snake made of smoke whispering of an endless hunger.