SodaBrain off the Cranium

Ilustrado

2012-02-07T14:08:00.001+08:00

I handed my sister a nice, clean envelope with a month’s worth of my savings. She smiled and thanked me. We ordered Jolibee’s palabok (bean noodles in yellow sauce) like we didn’t have shrimp allergies.“Why are you doing it?” she asked me while chewing her food. I thought it’d help her keep quiet but turns out she’s curious too.“What are you referring to?” I asked then swallowed a mouthful of

Morphing

2012-02-04T00:00:00.001+08:00

Love chapters closed. Life in one of the world’s most livable city puzzles me in nights such as this. It’s a bit before nine. There’s the usual rush of people trying to get themselves home which is actually one of these things—room, boarding houses, street—if not the real one.I wish I am not seeing these street kids playing along Quirino. Their lives are just playgrounds to many people. They are

Learning a new tongue

2012-01-29T16:57:00.002+08:00

Part of my 2012 commitment is to learn a new language. Of course, I wanted to do something Asian. When I was younger and was an anime addict, I tried learning Japanese. But I never progressed beyond learning one anime theme song. Then, my brother had Bahasa and i had browsed his module. He got an F during the first term. But he was able to finish the course with his charm. I backed out and forgot

Many lives

2012-01-23T16:17:00.001+08:00

1 EXT-WOODEN BRIDGE-DAYWind blows and winged-vine seeds float in the air and drop slowly. Some fell on the ground. A few others on the water. It’s still and silent. Fishes swim mutely under lotus leaves. We see two people, a lanky fellow and an equally skinny but shorter girl, standing still and straight on the bridge. Not eyeing the water. Just standing still. We call the girl Mia. We call the

Bagong Taon (New Year)

2012-01-03T11:25:00.002+08:00

Dalawa tayong nagsindi ng paputok na hindi sumabogGanun man, ikaw pa rin ang paborito kong pangarap.At sa ilalim ng langit na makulay,hihiling sa dilimBoth of us lightedfireworks that failed to explode.Still, you are my favorite ambition.And under the colorful sky,I wish in the dark…Tala, munting talaBlangko, matalinghagang pariralaPatawarin na sana,katahimikang nagpapahamak.Star, little

Cards

2011-12-21T13:53:00.005+08:00

We keep in a boxful of secretslike blinking stars with orders to lie.We arrange ourselvesin patterns they don't recognize.Then break inside,break inside.I'm a concept dismissedinto the warplike, yeah, a low card.We arrange ourselvesin decks of play.Then break inside,break inside.These days you tryAnd try hard.It’s stars against tides.Break inside.We break inside.Fall apartand break inside.We're

Urban Lights

2011-12-09T15:11:00.000+08:00

Cheese of the Week No. 6

2011-12-09T04:00:00.000+08:00

How hard can it be? I mean, the night was quite warm, the music good, but all i wanted is to get you out of there and watch the stars somewhere. I have dreamed of that night to come but when it finally did I think I ended up losing you.I find it weird when people say we lose things that we don't have. But I guess that was all of it. You and me and the music. And I guess, that was pretty much all

Cards

2011-12-05T17:35:00.002+08:00

You handed me a deck of cards and it seemed that all my wit and sensibility were gone in a split of second. But I managed to reply. It was dumb, okay. But at least, I made a very conscious effort not to be swept away.“Unsa ma ni panghatag? Are you giving me this?”I don’t know if I heard you right. What I remember was you said no and I regret having asked the question. But I opened the box and

Backwards

2011-11-25T16:32:00.000+08:00

Twenty Six

2011-11-24T10:07:00.005+08:00

Long November

2011-11-04T23:20:00.007+08:00

The only comfort I have is the thought that you will return. From where? I can only speculate. When? I can only wait. But that possibility is the greatest news I've heard in a month. I have reasons to believe that we are two persons that never meet. The outdoors are kind of a religion to me; humid air, grass, birds, forests and everything we call nature. You are a resident of your own virtual

Cheese of the Week 05: June

2011-09-22T15:58:00.003+08:00

You were born March but I was happiest last in June.

Cheese of the Week 04: Stars are mute

2011-09-20T18:01:00.008+08:00

and your stars never said anything about meas i only occupy the space betweenand you never said morethan what the starsever did

Cheese of the Week 03: Samporado ni Lola

2011-09-20T17:44:00.002+08:00

Naa’y mga buntag nga wala ka kasabot sa imong gibati. Kanang buntag gani nga sidlak na man unta kayo ang adlaw apan wala ka ganahi ug bangon kay gusto ka magtinapulan maski usa lang ka-adlaw. Maski kanang adlawa ra gud. Mao g’yud nang adlawa nga sa imong pagmata gisapot ka (wala man unta ka gidugo).Makahuna-huna dayon ka sa mga adlaw’ng nilabay. Kadtong panahon nga kumpanya lang sa jolen,

Cheese of the Week 02

2011-09-08T19:29:00.001+08:00

The morning begins with the sound of rubber slippers on vinyl floors and hushed voices from housemates. The bright yellow morning sunlight doesn’t appear in the picture until I pull myself out of bed, go out of the cramped room and turn the computer on. Ah, busy days. It is once again September, still feels like summer to me, only I have a meeting around ten and I was only half finished with

2011-05-17T15:53:00.004+08:00

Kung kabalo lang ko nga karon na diay ang oras, gilibre unta taka gahapon sa McDo o maski ug coke na lang. Pero nganong wala man taka nalibre sauna? Naa ra man unta ka diha. Gakita man unta ta.Salamat angkol, nga sauna, kadtong bata pa ko, gi-share nimo imong sud-an ug gihatagan ko nimo ug piso, pampalit ug ice juice sa silingang tindahan. Ug pasaylo, kay wala man lang ko ka-panlibre nimo.

Binary

2011-05-11T18:55:00.003+08:00

Snail MailHidden under my dusty pile of books—read, unread, and re-read—were letters from the start of the millennium. They look awfully forgotten like history, like death note episodes, like responsibilities. It was cheesy I brought them with me, anywhere I go. They were supposed to remind me of things (not so I could regret), of people (not that I’ve completely forgotten them), of feelings (not

The Day of Seven Gerberas

2011-04-30T10:29:00.003+08:00

Felt quite messed up. Downtown Davao City with all its concrete and soot from vehicles sapped a day’s worth of my energy. I took a leave from work to help my friend, Miyang, on her first flower arranging gig for a wedding in San Pablo Church. It was a hot day. At two PM, the flowers were wilting and browning and it was quite hard photographing them. There’s too much white light outside and

The Sand Heart

2011-04-14T15:26:00.003+08:00

I often dreamed of myself, standing stiffly on the shore, coarse black sand beneath my feet, and my hair whipped in all directions by a warm, steady breeze that just arrived to signal the onset of summer. The pink sunrise breaking the dim dawn was a constant feature and such breaking was always scored with faint, dreamy, strums from an acoustic guitar. The sea, most of the time, was as quiet as

Anatomy of the twenty five and working

2011-03-13T17:51:00.002+08:00

Hands, I have such small hands. The soap bubbles looked like jewels when a part of the window light slanted by the sink. My laundry was piling up for a while so I decided to do the washing on a Sunday. I was warmed up by a cup of Nesvita but was kind of slowed down by your presence. Everything else was the same—the morning, the birds, the silence. You were the only introduced factor but it felt

Psalm February

2011-02-08T17:26:00.005+08:00

Do not ask, oh pleaseThat I hold your beating heart.I have but two full handsand a list of purple dreams.So let me just,For a while, just let meWalk quite a few steps with youDown the shady tree avenue.Let me sigh.Let me sigh.Yet sometimes,I wish you’d dare and ask.I have thousand dreamsAnd two full hands.But if you'd ask,Just in case you would,Down the shady tree avenueI might free a palm to

Not in the News

2011-01-14T20:14:00.002+08:00

1. Holidays always feel like a day short.2. Unfinished things in 2010 are added burdens in 2011.3. I will be more and more "eastern" this year.4. I still love the sea.5. I now love cats. The 20-year hatred of their kind ended.6. There is a dire need to go back to keeping journals.7. My memory's getting bad.8. A personal revolution is a must. I need to try something, if not radical, at least new.9

Cheese of the Week 05

2010-11-10T17:17:00.000+08:00

I hope you can see I tried hard. If only I had prepared to see you yesterday...I guess I could've asked the right question instead of asking you "Why are you here?" Blame it on brain freeze. What I wanted to say was "I missed seeing you here."

The Sunset Mosaic

2010-10-26T00:27:00.005+08:00

24th OctoberMemory at the Seawall Finally, the sun started to sink down the horizon, withdrawing her arms of fiery bright light into the backs of the mountains that now appear dark and dense under such beautiful backlighting. Some of the light filtered through the shrubs and the hedges that separated one side of the park from the rest of the wide amber sea, giving one the illusion that they