The New Dentists

Cholo Luistro

Our words are like dirty ice cream
Dripping from our fingers
On the hot Philcoa sidewalk,
Our dude-pare-tsongs the garbled mix
Of strawberry, ube, and macapuno
Melting under the eight-ray sun.

It’s almost like the real thing,
Like how it’s supposed to taste
Miles from where we stand:
The accent of frost basking
In the sweet scent of rustling pine.

ISEMISEMISEEEM!

IMMARTIIMARTIIMARTI!

The askals from the jeepneys bark,
The sticky air reeking of their voices
As they flip through their Bulldogs
Like Mang Mario does
When he’s done browsing the Inquirer
For the numbers he didn’t bet on.

The tropic sun exclaims as we
Feel the sting of heat
Stuttering from the engines.

We coat our tongues with frost,
Dreaming of a distant land

Where the sidewalk glows with snow

And where the ice cream isn’t dirty.

Cholo is a BA Psychology student from UP Diliman. He keeps himself sane by writing, making music, and hanging out with his awesome Psych friends.

Enzo Zulueta

And before I sleep
a sigh;
I return to
the things I’ve done
by the end of day:
I have achieved
a chore.

And, before I lie
a smile;
I forsee the
things I’ll do
by the break of dawn:
A chore I’ll achieve
once more.

Enzo is the upcoming Vice President of the UP Music Circle. He likes his organization.

Cholo Luistro

[He] has mastered the

[Ar]t of telling himself he’s

[Ne]ver felt the need to be completed

And deems himself independent—

Noble even—

As if fated to exist alone.

Cholo is a music geek. He reminds us to smile a lot, and he talks about old kids’ shows with enthusiasm.

Picket Luna

Im afraid of
space, and its bossy
ways, how it grabs unwilling
subjects for its
canvas.
I must run with
haste, before it traps
my gaze, for it
imprisons the restrained
through its
mantras.

It has devises, contraptions,
that release
inhibitions —- I was victimized
by its beauty not just
once! And then, suddenly,
freely, I was feeding its
fancy —- with a verse

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Jenine

It seems all that can happen has happened today
What remains now are coulds of gray
There is sunrise in the yonder.

Jenine is a 16-year-old female and is a figment of your imagination.

Jenine

the shriveled rose dampened by
dew reclaims her beauty refined
the wrinkled face plagued by
years delivers enigma defined

the battered hand that holds
such beauty shivers from the cold

this is the last hope.
auf wiedersehen.

Jenine is a 16-year-old female and is a figment of your imagination.

Gwen Bautista

I won’t allow you
To fire me
Me, your deranged lover

Being your lover
it’s such a job
it’s such a job

You can exploit me
All over
exploit me


Being your lover
it’s such a job
it’s such a job

Gwen Bautista is a Visual / Spoken Word Artist and Poet who performs around Metro Manila with Bigkas Pilipinas. She is practicing Self- Inflicted Happiness and can sometimes speak Spanish and Portuguese. Also, she is an equal opportunity lover.

Sisigman

Lunes, magkikita kami ni Arnold
Doon sa kanila manonood ng bold
Martes, pupuntahan si Badette
Upang kumopya ng assignment
Miyerkules, huwag manggugulo
Magde-date kami ng nobya ko
Huwebes, hahayo sa Trinoma
Kaysa pumasok sa eskuwela
Biyernes, dadaan ako sa Area
Mang-uupa ng dalagita
Sabado, uy, tayo’y totoma
Uubusin ang tatlong kaha
Linggo, gigising ng maaga
Dahil makikinig ako ng misa

Sisigman, 22, is a trilingual literary writer (English, Tagalog, Kapampangan) from Pampanga who also engages in music production, filmmaking, theater, journalism, visual arts, photography, and cultural work. He is a Broadcast Communication [overstaying] student from the University of the Philippines Diliman.

Tom Co

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screeech

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