SHEPHERD'S PIE by Dave Bernasibo
the ninety-nine say,
"Shepherd knows what to do,
he'll scare the wolf away!"
but the one says
he does not believe.
the ninety-nine shun him,
call him all sorts of names.
they do not believe when he says
he saw Shepherd feed the wolf last night.
{APS Member Submission}
Quarantine Notes
Circa 2020
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LANGOY by Catherine Acuña
Ang akong pag langoy
tambal sakong pag maoy,
kay kada adlaw nko gi lamoy,
gi lamoy sa kaguol
kasakit og kakapoy.
ang tubig akong kasumbungan
kung wala man gani dunggan
na gusto mo hatag og kasolbaran.
kada buga sakong ginhawa
mayta akong kasakit mo hawa
og mo kuyog sa mga buwa.
Ang akong pag langoy
mura ra nag gukod sakong pangandoy,
kay kinahanglan ko mo bira, patid og
utong kung mgkalisud.
inig human og pagawas
sa mga kasakit na nag awas awas,
mgpa lutaw lutaw sa tubig
og maminaw sa mga pisik
na gi duyogan sa mga shagit
na hinay hinay na nipya it.
{APS Member Submission}
In the Time of Covid-19
Quarantine 2020
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LOVE, IN SPITE OF by Valerie T.
Our house is divided into two parts / when my mother comes for a visit / Every weekend she brings potatoes, string beans, and meat for lunch / In one side of the house, the aroma of asado and ginisang Baguio beans roams like noon breeze / my mother’s laughter and sudden sighs of exasperation over a week’s worth / of unfolded clothes are plastered / all over the walls / In another side of the house / my father dances to his favorite music / his children’s laughter / and always, there is the wild scent of adobo / and fluffy scrambled eggs, which I still try to master / In this corner, / sometimes there is the painful silence I try to / bury with my hands / but most of the time / I do not have to dig any more soil / I had built an entire graveyard / over the past years / for all my broken bones / and over time / it has become a garden / where butterflies seek for refuge / and birds build nests from fallen leaves / Every weekend / I come home to the same house that taught me / to love, in spite of //
{APS Member Submission}
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Still searching the infinite? Check out this blissfully sad poem, written by our very own, ME Ava.
Love poetry? Follow APS on:
Twitter - twitter.com/thealmostpoets
Instagram - instagram.com/almostpoetssociety/
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KtnxbaiTV - bit.ly/utube-ktnxbaiTV
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OPEN, CLOSE by Wela Midel-Bagsican
I open my eyes
The luminous blue skies dripping with sunshine
The crystal clear waters gleaming right before me
The pristine sand cradling my feet
Open
Stars brightly sprinkling with magic
Trees towering high, protecting you from whatever harm
Birds singing sweet hymns
Open
You are home
I am home
And Earth is our mother
The world is ours for the taking
The world is our playground
And man, did we play
I close my eyes
The sky haze wounding my nares
Yellow fumes flying around
A whiff of stench is all I can breathe
Close
Broken bottles, scorched plastics
Parched pieces of glass
Concrete clutching on to my feet
Oceans coughing up thick crude oil
Close
Trunks baring abuses
Birds no longer chirping
Sea life wailing and gasping for air outside the ocean
Wildlife missing, going extinct
Where are they now?
Destined for a slow terrible doom
Close
We all reek of an I-don’t-care aroma
Close
Mother Earth screams
Close
Her hands reach out for help
Close
Sands of time have yielded fear
Close
Haiti earthquake, over 200,000 dead
Close
Sumatra tsunami, more than 300,000 dead; millions missing
Close
Hurricane Katrina, 1,833 dead
Close
European heat wave, more than 70,000 dead
Close
Typhoon Yolanda, reportedly more than 10,000 dead
Close
California wildfires, millions of dead trees, thousands of lost homes
Close
Close
Why do we keep closing our eyes and covering our ears to the cries of Mother Earth?
Open
Open please
Open your eyes, open our eyes
Wake up to reality
Open
Reach out
Save a mother from dying in the hands of her children
No, someone else will not save it
We all are going to save it
We are each a drop but together we will form an ocean
Open
Artists, paint the blue skies it’s stunning beauty again
Crafters, recycle, reuse things into a marvel once more
Engineers and builders, design our world back to its former glory
Storytellers, tell us of the life-giving love of the place we call home
For our stories rise and drop with nature
Open or close
Which one do you choose?
---
Performed for Greenpeace’s SHIP IT BACK: Plastic Ship Tour 2019 - CEBU. March 15, 2019.
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Windows to the Soul by Cho Camomot
I see the world differently in your eyes.
I see colors of which I am not familiar with.
Colors other than black and white.
I see not only grey on the palette
But rarely seen colors array.
I see the world differently in your eyes
I see forms of waves clashing towards me.
If I were to be an island, you'd be the sea that kisses my sands each time the wind blows.
I be the ship that floats on the surface and you'd be the current that guides me my way.
I see the world differently in your eyes.
I see calmness in the storm.
I rage rampantly at anything I glide on
But somehow you found my center and blew away the pain.
I stripped everything from their roots and you shine on the aftermath of my rampage.
I see the world differently in your eyes.
I see a warm blanket wrapped around me when I sleep.
I feel your fingers run through my hair as it finds it's way in to my dreams.
There I felt more than your touch.
I felt compassion.
I see the world differently in your eyes.
I see happiness.
Overloading happiness of which I want to take.
And there deeper in your eyes, I stared.
I see myself in it
And there's no place that I'd rather be.
{APS Member Submission}
Performed at “Friendzone!” on Feb 14, 2018
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In Fear of Boundaries by Lara Eviota
Boundaries.
The world is criss-crossed with them
So much that I am compelled to
thread with care
or else I'll end up somewhere
I don't belong
Like a thief before a guarded safe.
Bumbling through CCTVs and laser fields
Scouring through places where I am all but
welcome
Like a man walking blind.
No sight, no cane, not a single aid
No stars to plot directions
No guide to leave you trails
No fences to set limits
No traffic lights
to tell me when to move or where to move
No signages no posts no notices
to tell me I'm where I'm supposed to go
No doors to walk through, no dividers
just one massive space
It's
a hullabaloo of stormy boundaries and I'm standing still in the eye of the storm
Storms.
That's what I felt when I fell for you, my friend
That's what I felt when
along with the blossoming of our friendship
came the blossoming of a different kind of love.
Love.
Love sprouted right off of my heart ricocheting everywhere in tiny yet ever constant instances
Like pinballs
Hitting me in the guts
Over and over and over.
That's what made me confess
Shaking like a shitting dog
Sweating like a gym buff
Face red like strawberry fields forever
Stuttering incomprehensive
Heart beating out of chest
Words pulsating of truth that know no bounds
And I confess
Not hoping for a yes or
a merge in our boundaries.
I'm not asking for permission,
I'm not asking for THAT space.
I'm a blind man walking and I just wanted to know where I stood.
Good God,
I just wanted to know where I stood.
So you don't have to like me
You don't have to feel the same way
All I'm asking is
Help me know my boundaries
Help me set my limits
Because
even if I get away with
Robbing the bank undetected
Or
Walking blind through the red light and the heat of a traffic jam
It's still breaching boundaries
And I've no desire of breaching your space
Encroaching into your embrace
Your arms shouldn't hold me in that way
If they don't want to.
{APS Member Submission}
Performed at “Friendzone!” on Feb 14, 2018
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If Only Love Had A Name by Dave Bernasibo
If only love had a name, I’d call it out
I’d call it out everytime it gets shrouded in doubt
Everytime it stumbles, I’d call it out
And steal a kiss from its adorable pout
If only love had a name, it wouldn’t be so ordinary
People would be careful is saying it, surely
You wouldn’t want to tarnish someone’s name so badly
That it would lose its meaning and become rusty
If only love had a name, it wouldn’t be seen as an object
But rather, people would treat it with high respect
Like how a king is treated by his subjects
And not just as if it were a mere insect
If only love had a name, I’m sure it would be beautiful
Like a princess in her dress, so wonderful
Now if only love had a name,
I’d say it would be – excuse me lovely lady, what was your name again?
{APS Member Submission}
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Frailty by Marjorie
Caught a momentary stillness,
A pause to calm my own storm;
Distrusted myself unconsciously,
Unspeaking and horrified for too long.
And for all these writhing and wailing
and raping my thoughts,
Afflictions I allowed to feed on;
Withered by all the senses that I fought;
All has left me with callous conditions.
I stood on countless edges,
Breathing suffocating silence,
Ached containing all these violence
not to sever you;
You're the distance getting closer
that I never wanted to end.
Proclaiming abhorrent sorrows
scarred all over my head.
{APS Member Submission}
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Biyaheng Forever by Cho Camomot
Kung kamo nagatuo nga ang gugma
mura ranag storya sa usa ka makata,
dira kamo nasayop.
Dili na siya pantasya sa libro,
nga imo rang lantawon, imo rang basahon
Kundi mura na siyag byahe sa sugbo,
nga kailangan nimo lakwon.
Kailangan nimo suruyon.
Ang gugma dili lang kay magtuyuk tuyuk ka
sa iyang hunahuna ug dira raka taman
kundi kailangan pud ka magtuyuk tuyuk
sa iyang kinabuhi, iyang kalibutan.
Imong tanawn kung asa ka dapit mulugar.
Asa ka angay mu naog.
Ug kibaw pud ka kung kanusa ka mu irog.
Irog lag gamay kay naa pa diay.
Naa pa kuno.
Abi nimog sakto, pero nagkulang pa.
Nagkulang pa pero
sa imong hunahuna murag puno na.
Karon nagkasikit sikit na, nagka apiki na.
reklamo dire, reklamo dira
Wala tay mahimo, nisakay man ta.
Nasulayan na nako ang tanan.
Ang kapaspas ug ang kahinay sa gugma.
Naa puy mga higayon nga
ganahan naka mu give up.
Nga ganahan naka muhunong sa tunga tunga.
Pero sa paglabay sa oras
Sa sige nimog yawyaw
Sa sige nimog tagawtaw
Nga ganahan naka munaog.
Ganahan naka maglakaw lakaw
Wala naka kabantay nga naabot naka sa punto
nga humana na diay ang tanan.
Naabot naka sa lugar kung asa ka ganahan.
Dira rapud ka nakamatngon
Nga mas maayo pa nga mubyahe ka
Bisag init,
Sikit-sikit,
Bumper to bumper,
Wala’y paki as long as you're together.
Mas ganahan paka sa imong biyahe.
Imong biyaheng forever.
{APS Member Submission}
Photo by: Samantha Almaden
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Sentimyento by M.E. Ava
Sa bawat luha na tumatagaktak
Sa namumula mong pisngi
Patungo sa namumutla mong labi
Ang latak ng tahanang sawi
Ang siyang nagpapakirot
Sa maninipis mong balat
Na balot ng sigalot
Di mo malilimot ang kahapon na puno ng tawanan
Saan na nga ba napunta ang masasayang pinagsamahan?
Itinakwil ang sumpaan
Na kailanman walang iwanan
Tila ba isang bangkang papel
Dahan-dahan sa pagtiklop
Hangad ay perpektong mukha
Kahit di mo naman masikmura
Ang hampas ng dakilang alon
Kumakabig sa gumuguho mong damdamin
Paano nga ba mapapawi ang dulot na pighati?
Tinuruan mo ko ng pagtiwala
Hinangad ko ang pag-asa
Hinintay ko ang pagtawa
Subalit …
Natuto ako ng pagkamuhi
Natanaw ko ang pagtatapos
Nadatnan ko ang parusa
Parusa na sana…
“Sana…”
{APS Member Submission}
Photo by: Marj Avanzado
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Misery On Loop by Marjorie
Savage me for your vanity.
To be emptied between beautiful words.
I'd take all else for granted,
Shut off all sounds but your voice.
Addicted to the longing that
erases all dreams and desires;
My sense of worth is in your attention.
My freedom -- abandoned in your arms.
Discard me for somebody else's pleasure;
I'd only lose myself for another one's charms.
And then you came...
And savaged me for your vanity.
I'm emptied between beautiful words.
All my senses eroded,
I don't see any other choice.
For in keeping myself occupied,
I felt a chance of living once more,
Demanded and scorned the world to satisfy,
My sickness is my only cure.
{APS Member Submission}
Performed at "Mga Masamang Balak", APS' second anniversary event on Nov 25, 2017.
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Fairy Tale by Adi Raey
You have clenched your fists more times than you have opened them
There are hands reaching out for you
But deep down that well is where you feel grounded
Welcoming a stranger’s lips speaking familiar promises is a dangerous thing
And that’s what you always say to yourself
Before you realize you have already fallen for that smile
You can still remember the time your mother told you not to kiss someone wearing someone else’s vows in their fingers
She told you this after giving you another book of fairy tale you used to believe in
Until, on your twelfth birthday, you saw her kissing one
And you've never seen her again for the next six years
At eighteen
You were running down the stairs of a motel at 6:15 in the morning
Holding your shoes and tears altogether
Afraid
Not of getting caught by his wife
But by knowing that at the end of the day, he’d still choose her
You'd keep running away from her like mascara running down your cheeks
And he’d still run home to her
Over
And over
You see, there is someone
Whose monsters can get along with your monsters
Who can create butterflies in your stomach with hand-me-down words of love
Who keeps his ring in his pocket, but you still let him leave his pants on your bedroom floor
Who shows you that there is a kind of love that you hide in the tower yet you still let your hair down
You shiver, but you leave your doors unlocked
Because maybe
Just maybe
This could be a fairy tale too
Performed during Almost Poets Society’s second anniversary event, Mga Masamang Balak, November 25, 2017.
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Falling In Love Arc by Louise Francis Ouano
She’s walking with her heart out alone;
Flashes of her smile are just pouring out.
Can’t imagine that soon she will be gone
Because summer's sun always ends in south
But even though; trust my love with no doubt
For you’re the only one who shook my heart
From the stillness that runs up to my mouth.
Your stare pierced my heart faster than a dart.
I know its love even though I’m not that smart
To learn the lessons that love has taught me.
So come on now girl, let’s ride this love cart
Down a track where the end we can’t foresee.
Because the way I see it, you're the "it"
On my every, "Damn, this is fucking it."
{APS Member Submission}
Performed in IGNITE / May 21, 2016
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Ang Gugma Murag Lakaw sa Colon sa Gabie by Elle R.
Barato na utanon
Mas barato na lawas
Mga edipisyo
na murag beterano
sa giyera sauna
Mga eskina na wala ka kahibaw
asa padulong
Kini ang Colon
sa gabii.
Ang tanan paglaom buhii
kung diri ka muagi
kay wala ka kahibaw maunsa ka
ma dunggaban
ma kawatan
ma ligsan
ma saag
Wala ka kahibaw kinsa imo maila-ila sa daplin sa dalan
holdaper
pusher
burikat
mangingilad
Wala ka kahibaw unsay mawala nimo
imong pitaka
imong kalipay
imong kaugmaon
imong pagkataw
Wala ka kahibaw unsay makuha nimo
insomnia
STD
labad sa ulo
sakit sa dughan
Ang Colon
hadlok
gubot
ngit-ngit
pero diri daghan ka matilawan
Daghan ka makat-onan
Daghan ka makuha na handumanan
Dili ma completo
imo pagpuyo sa Sugbu
Kung dili ka musuway ug agi
sa Colon sa gabii.
{APS Member Submission}
Performed in THIS CITY NEVER SLEEPS (Gutter Poetry) / September 24, 2016
Photo Credit: Louise Ouano
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Hello, Sunshine
By Dave Bernasibo
Sunshine
painted the skies in technicolor
Mid-day
lit up the school of green and yellow
filled with smiles and echoes of laughter
Sunset
Sunshine
7 a.m. corridors
Beautiful faces
waltzing in different paces
6 p.m. has empty floors
Sunset
Sunshine
School colors
The sweet scent of sweat
Cries of victory
and defeat
Sunset
Sunshine
Study-outs
Replaced the night-outs
Textbooks
in place of literature
Sunset
Sunshine
I still haven’t slept
“I’m fine,
I’ve got a little left”
Sunset
The silence whispered
to me,
Over and over
“a flop,
that’s all that you are.”
Midnight
The wan sky unlit
But I could see it
The end,
The finish line
tied in a loop
Stood on a stool
peered into the loop
And there I saw
Sunshine
{APS Member Submission}
Photo credit: http://sf.co.ua
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Candle Burns by M.E. Ava
Your eyes shine like fairy tales in a forgotten land
Bringing lost ships back to the cradle of sand
Your lips boil man’s desire in agony
Its flames scorch their throat with blasphemy
Your soul is a canvass of ruins and tainted dreams
Travelling lonely sheets of passionate screams
Candle burns, candle yearns
These idle hands grope every turns
Intense beating of the blessed clock
Upon this hour you are to nock
Close the door and break the wall
Let the candle burn your soul
The universe we share cries your burning name
As I caress your melting body to reclaim
Pulling dimensions of reality
Into a conscious moment denied of sanity
A cloth to embellish your steaming virtue
A fire to put out the flame in you
{APS Member Submission}
Photo credit: thoughtco.com
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