Emily’s Peppermints

(from Peppermints in the Parlor)
 
 
In front of Emily stood a gleaming bowl
Of pink-and-white striped peppermints.
Her eyes were glued to the colorful and yummy candy
as her mouth was watering with temptation.
She dared not to touch them,
not a single move that would reveal
the cries of her desire.
For she knew that there,
awaiting for her failure to resist
was the [...]

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Dream of Perfection

When I grow up, I want to be like my Tatay,
a contented and hard-working fisherman.
 
At dawn, he sets off towards the whispering sea,
Adrift, he journeys with his boat and fish net
farther from the shore.
 
This peaceful life in our community is incomparable
to the city’s loud whines and murmurs.
 
I don’t want those cars with screeching tires;
they are [...]

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Killer Smiles

He washed his hands in the sink, rubbing off the stain on them. They were already clean afterwards. This brought a sheepish smile on his face – a smile that depicts not happiness but a fleeting relief.
            Hands, he muttered to himself, my favorite part of the body. They do most of the [...]

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Rapunzel Modernity

I admit: I did it
not the witch.
I hate my suitor,
Who still lives in middle ages.
He doesn’t own a cellphone,
doesn’t know what a car is,
and doesn’t have an inkling
how to court a woman like me.
Everyday he rides on his horse
from his faraway palace up to my fortress
just to utter words of the same idea
all over again.
He [...]

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Children’s Game

Setting:
Two children, about 3-4 years old, were playing teacher teacher in the garden.
 
Child1: (holding a santan flower) Okay class, this is a flower. Repeat after me: flower.
Child 2: Flower.
Child 1: Very good.
Child 2: Where do flowers grow from, ma’am?
Child 1: It comes from a tree.
(Child1 cuts a stem from the santan plant. The stem [...]

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