mauunang dumilim itong dibdib bago ang paligid at ang pinilakang-tabing

the memory of a woman
sets with the day I
am undone quivering

and humming a song
I slipped into the pocket
of her uniform I tore away
on the covers of my

bed will reach her
half-filled with each other’s
regrets we cling to
the ambience ignoring what was

in front of us
voices surround this
place amplified enough
shaking the dust sleeping

in the nook of people’s
vacuum chests they have
seen countless versions of
us: blonde hair waiting

on your arrival
from a vague replica of war
soaring in spandex
through the expanse

of a sky painted like
the first lady Freddie
Mercury singing farewell
to his muse while people

steel themselves
into lush velvet seats
ghosts refusing to pass
over into the other world

the usherette denies
impulse to light cigarettes
a co-worker bribed her
to overtime I say

love you the 500th time
this month we are perpetual
in film until the date she tears
our faces from the lobby

---

Julienne Maui C. Mangawang

Julienne Maui Castelo Mangawang finished BA Asian Studies at the University of Santo Tomas. She is taking up her MA in Creative Writing at the University of the Philippines — Diliman. She loves gardening, dogs, and esotericism. Email Maui at: maui@voxpopuliph.com.