THE ROCKING CHAIR

THE ROCKING CHAIR

For my grandfather, the late Paul Mapangdol, Sr. Some of the best conversations in life happen when it’s the last. At twenty, he was able to have the best one to leave an imprint in his life. It was with his grandfather. On the shore, they were facing the setting sun....
THE SEDENTARY LIFE OF JUAN DE LA CRUZ

THE SEDENTARY LIFE OF JUAN DE LA CRUZ

An ordinary eye cast upon this country’s common people yields a conclusion that we are all unconsciously tired. We may even be depressed at the conscious thought of being tired. These are our storylines: ignorance to wisdom, sadness to happiness, emptiness to meaning,...
DAD, WHAT DOES A TREE LOOK LIKE?

DAD, WHAT DOES A TREE LOOK LIKE?

At last: Juan has a child with whom he tells stories at bedtime. He fidgeted, swallowed and stared at his daughter’s expectant eyes. Brown eyes as they are, he thought of an answer, snuggled in bed with her, and began telling her a story back when the land was still...
DESTINATION: LAKE DRIVE

DESTINATION: LAKE DRIVE

Wanna ride? From all society’s minds the riders come Split identities by morality, Reputation and earthly cravings. Angels by morning, Vampires by night. Sons of their ancestors they are Whose backs are bare And whose faces unseen.   Come on, where the journey starts...
IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER

IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER

You     blinded     my insight with the plot that    yielded    my passion’s    recesses. You    gagged    my mouth as you poured the     essence     of my  deliverance.  In darkness    and     in flames, you scorched my holiness.  You bound my blessing with a sacred...