LANA

Flight Risk Written by Unies Valenzuela I run away a lot. When I was asked what is my favorite place to be — my answer was: on a train, on a bus, or on an airplane. My favorite place to be is on a journey.  I like being in a place of motion; constantly moving, headed in directions, seated by the window. I like the feeling of traveling.  I fall asleep at long rides faster than I do on still…

I like to see it between cities, on my bedroom window, at the scorch of my foot beneath the scarce, roads stretching beside the tracks, as the hours pass the night And I fear its stagnant speed, its ramdant closing, the handrails The scent and the people of my own I like the timing of its arrival, the efficiency of its waiting time, the cold that welcomes True as it may be, I lie And I…

It’s been a month. Or a couple. I’m not sure. What I was properly aware of, is that the leaves weren’t as dry as before. We didn’t know why, we didn’t know how. Though, the trees stood still. Proud and loud. But they stopped dancing. They don’t get happy out of my stares anymore. When I drink my heart early in the morning, or when I cry my soul late at night. The trees just went blank. I don’t…

what is there to call home? the place that you were born? or the pair of arms that you run to so that you will no longer feel alone? it has been a decade, i think. since i took the last step out of the town away from all the familiar faces, incubated hopes, and mental illnesses – all into gray skies, clinging into tightrope that there’d no more be swollen eyes. goodbyes weren’t made…

Mga hindi inaasahang pangyayari;                                  Paru-parong nakarating sa alapaap,                                Musika mula sa naudlot na pangarap.                              Kasama kang tumakbo sa ilalim ng ambon                      Ako ang babae, pero ako ang hari.                                   Sa hindi inaasahang pagkakataon,                              …

– It’s your choice whether to answer it or not Run. Don’t stop. No matter what, angels will sing echoes at your doorstep, not frantic whites & highs & a hundred tries delicate yet evil, a thorn & a song & a pickle of secretive remorse Don’t wake me yet —             I haven’t been falling asleep since the last UAAP season & I lost count of the amount of caffeine intake I sip            …

Formalist Analysis on The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid. Final Paper on the subject Literatures of America. Submitted to Polytechnic University of the Philippines. “Doesn’t it bother you? That your husbands have become such a headline story, so often mentioned, that they have nearly eclipsed your work and yourself? That all anybody talks about when they talk about you are…

Rape Culture and Sexual Abuse in the Philippines Term Paper for Ethics Subject. Submitted to Polytechnic University of the Philippines. ABSTRACT Rape culture isn’t a myth. It’s real, and it’s dangerous. This study regards to our country, Philippines, being a third-world country, has a pre-existing rape culture and cases of sexual abuse in the society. As this concept is commonly tackled by the…

In the Filipino culture, the strength and essence of a Filipina’s womanhood starts through the means of playing a role inside the household. Ever since then in the earlier centuries, gender norms are often associated with the cultural mentality that we comprise – which is the conservative by nature and by nurture. On our community, Filipino women are standardized by stereotypical viewpoint for…

slow mornings, sunday reset warm lemonade, night time bus rides nude pink acrylic fingernails case files, epiphany, bonifacio high street golden hour, clarity pretty stilettos, words of affirmation withered roses, skyscrapers silly little grocery runs passenger seat, vios in silver feminine rage soft launch, height difference machismo maximal minimalism good…

Two missed calls from Melbourne then vibrates a text saying you see me on a dying sinner’s pause; astray, aghast Was it a foul joke or a blasphemy one for the books? such cynic should I laugh or should I punch myself in the guts? Mi diablo, how can I ever tell? As a little girl, I’ve always been scared of my mother’s wedding gown perhaps it was the antiquity? the dust? the classic Filipino…

to be this calmfeels like a night time bus trip at last July’s rainthen back to a museum with someone’s lambing on my nape, I cannot escapeIt felt perhaps a second away & I just kinda wanna jump out of my body I fell asleep for seven years—whether in a state of motion or adrenaline,I cannot open my eyes like it’s irretrievably damn shutunless I hop on a ride en route to somewhere far away,…

call me a saint, call me a sinner 90% of the time i forget i have tattoos until i strip myself— bare. naked. vulnerable. you’ll find: hiraeth and semi-colon ( ; ) on my chest, 777 and divine feminine on my back Jambered and awake, a couple of sleeping pills to pop long week is ahead of us so try filling up your gas tank later, love, for the empty streets worn your whey protein out —…

Synthesis Paper on Critical. Essays on Creative Nonfiction. The Beginning of an End  Coining the right term for Creative Nonfiction has been a struggle for literary scholars,  critics, and analysts. The conceptualization of the so-called “hardly new idea” is considerably a  thorough challenge in the academe, with John McPhee pertaining to the literary genre as “fact  pieces” and further in the…

Formalist Criticism as literary technique for Film Analysis on the film Sid & Aya: Not a Love Story (2018) directed by Irene Villamor. Black Swan – an unexpected event that creates a big impact in the world.Nassim Nicholas Taleb, 2001 The film “Sid & Aya: Not a Love Story” (2018) directed by Irene Villamor signifies the importance of realism in cinema, especially in the genre of Romance-Drama.…

A Synthesis Paper of Soledad Reyes, Ricardo G. Abad, and Buenvenido Lumbera’s Study on Popular Culture and Literature in The Philippines. There is only one word that can best describe the papers that are  presented by Soledad Reyes, Ricardo G. Abad, and Buenvenido Lumbera—trend. In a world wherein even the truth is relative and ideological, it is a  sense of perception and experience that allows…

Pointing out flaws is one thing that makes us feel human. Although, externalized criticism is destructive. We end up being judgmental; to criticize everything that we see as if we are perfect ourselves—though we are not. In appreciating art, we are told to embrace dissatisfaction in order to be truly pleased with the meanings that a certain artwork aims to depict. In other words, we must be able…