DRABBLE DUMP

High-strung

the lights illuminate your figure

and with the slow strumming of the guitar

i listen to your melody

you sing softly, filled with honesty, with surety

along with that confident smile

disarming me, enchanting me

i'm left with nothing but a sigh

longing, hoping, praying

that i was the only one listening

Droplets

it was raining again

little blots of mud stuck to my calves as i walked

and i walked as if i knew

i walked as if i knew

i went by slowly

tracing footsteps to avoid the spaces filled with flood

just like how i did with my life

suddenly i found myself running

not caring whether my pristine shoes would be dirtied

and i ran because i knew

i ran because i knew

the rain wouldn't stop

no matter how flooded my heart was

the rain wouldn't stop

no matter how long he held on to dear life

when he left my embrace that day

i felt droplets fall from my cheeks

it was raining again

Plaything

We were taken outside today. I lay on the ground unmoving, peacefully watching the clouds move against the blue backdrop of a sky. Your eyes as I remember were the same shade of calming blue. And as it shone brightly, blindingly so, I could and would not stop myself from looking even if it cost my sight.

I miss being close to your heart, feeling your warmth as you embrace me graciously. I miss seeing you smile until I could see a peek of those pink gums. I miss you in tangents and fragments. From hearing your playful laughter, your whiny innocence, and your little panic attacks until your broken sighs. Still, I regret being unable to move the day he struck you down. The moment he broke you to pieces ragged limb by ragged limb, a jagged-edged puzzle piece. I regret watching you die in his arms, heart and soul broken beyond repair. Maybe it was a trick of the mind, yet i was sure that at your final moments, you smiled at me with those blue eyes painted into memory.

I didn’t shed a tear; I couldn’t. I’ve lived a long and tedious life, but for the first time since I was stitched with care, stuffed with cotton, glued with glass bead eyes, made as a toy, put in a package, tagged with a price and sold to your heart. I wanted to mourn and shed every tear I possibly could. Because you gave me a soul as you took away my heart. Now I lay on the ground unmoving, reminiscing, and still unrequitedly loving.

Color blind

when the flowers sway

and the petals fly away

we meet beneath a lonely tree

devoid of emotions

a picture of black and white

a sea of monochrome lights

that was it

no second chances

no words exchanged

no glances stolen

just those bright city lights

an explosion of white in my faulty eyesight

a blur in my tear-filled eyes

standing back to back unnoticed

are two lost souls

and when two eyes are blind

there is nothing left to see

but the dream of a colorful future

In these frightful dreams of mine

Last night, I dreamt of being shot

Of being numbed by anaesthetic

Somehow I felt the itch on my skin

As the scalpel cut through it

I saw two bullets being removed from my arm

And bloodstains painting me red

and yet through it all, the most painful was the image of you

The image of you pulling the trigger

and betraying me too

You, oh you

So you see, I have here a pair of shoes

and I’m pretty sure, oh I’m sure

that your feet will fit perfectly

problem is, you never had the guts to try it on

But you see, I always think that

it isn’t about the love you get in return

but about the love you give for people to earn

Now you see, we’re sorry if it wasn’t enough to please you

but we did our best to make it up to you

now it’s your turn to make amends, straighten up the bends

By then you’ll see, as concise as counting one, two

Baby, the world doesn’t revolve around you

Flight

I pull my shoulders back

Feel my muscles strain and my spine bend

But alas, I had no wings to spread

Written by Amabelle Manicio
Art by Antonnette Tamonan

Writer

          Amabelle Manicio

Partly God’s attendant
Concurrently Satan’s spawn
Obviously a woman of contradiction
Ultimately, a one of a kind collectible

Contributor

          Antonnette Tamonan

Fickle-minded and nefarious
Creative and delirious