Tuesday, May 6, 2025

… tastemakers ball, late entry

a Party of (un)clothed 
Barbie’s
and broken crayons 
accompany her to the 
next matinee of Rugrats
front row on the stained 
brown carpet

…looking for “want to be my, friend?”
on the tanbark,
lost in a sea of 
nameless faces playing
tether-ball

After school meals of
Coffee and rice,
studying the way Nanay
used her sewing machine
to add candy paint
to her weekend gowns,
& once again yell “checkmate” 
on the dance floor

Ten years later,
Roaming carpeted hallways
sporting imposter syndrome
with a cool note…

telling stories about Kuya
and proudly painting him 
on extra confidence
cause she knows he’s shy 
about how he uses tears to fill
his ink pen.nevertoldhimhowmuchitmeanttothem

trying to program drums
with an awkward swing,
empty because bloodline
taste makers didn’t give her 
road maps to her gold chain

Treasure hunting in stacks 
of composition books,
introduced by Serendipity
to how good it felt to
dance to magic.

Standing tall on a hill
of courage & culture,
as she baked biscuits
for Kuya’s ghosts
he felt so protected with how they 
went with butter & honey.trustyallcantdancewithher


To Little Rachel,
who ran up on stage




 

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