Published in Yellow Medicine Review

Two poems of mine are printed in the Spring 2014 issue of the Yellow Medicine Review: "The Choosing of the Babaylan" and "The Babaylan Sleep".

Guest edited by Carter Meland.

Cover art by Carolyn Lee Anserson.

Contributors are Anne Carly Abad, Patricia Albers, Scott Andrews, Alice Azure, b: william bearhart, Benjamin V. Burgess, Javier Caravantes, Hans M. Carlson, Pauline Brunette Danforth, Royce K. Freeman, Laura M. Furlan, Linda LeGarde Grover, Jane Haladay, Blake M. Hausman, Ernestine Hayes, Travis Hedge Coke, Alexis Ivy, Toshiya Kamei, Ryan Kanaiokahome Poiekeala Kanakaole, Cecelia Rose LaPointe, Larry Lefkowitz, Denise Low, Dwayne Martine, Molly McGlennen, Tiffany Midge, Carol Miller, Suzanne Zahrt Murphy, Tim Nuttle, Rebecca Pelky, Marcie Rendon, Pamela Rentz, Carter Revard, Heidi Andrea Restrepo Rhodes, Truth Thomas, Jay Hansford C. Vest, vera wabegijig, David Weiden, Kim Wensaut, Gwen N. Westerman, Diane Wilson, and Karenne Wood.

MMM Sans Rival McFlurry!

OMG it's so buttery! I know I should be watching my sugar intake since my next fight is coming up, but I was really craving :'( The Sans Rival McFlurry did the trick. It was so rich I wasn't able to finish the cup. I also tried their Black Forest Coke McFloat, but I think it had too much ice in it. Just took two sips to finish the drink, and all the rest was ice.

Poems: "Vessels" in Silver Blade and "Three Times She Loved" in Songs of Eretz

These two poems are now available for reading!

Songs of Eretz Editor's Note:

It is with great pleasure and not a little pride that I present this, the fourth quarterly issue of the first volume of Songs of Eretz Poetry E-zine.  The feedback from the readership has been overwhelmingly positive, and, according to the e-zine’s traffic tracker, there have been nearly one thousand visits to the e-zine page and over fifty thousand visits to the poetry review blog since the e-zine’s inception.  I am truly humbled by this response.

My poem "Three Times She Loved" can be read here.


Meanwhile, I also appear in Issue 22 of Silver Blade. Read and listen to "Vessels" on this page. (Actually I'm still recording the reading with the help of my mother because I speak kinda funny with all this mucus from my colds)

Generational Problem? Or Resistance to Change?

I'm 26. And statistics place me in the generation of Millennials. I've been working for a little over four years and am very happy with my performance. Finances could be better but I know it will come. I know because I'm a go-getter and I'll do what has to be done to secure my success and dreams.

That's why I don't appreciate being denigrated to the common tropes and stereotypes applied to my generation. Yes, like many Millennials I am well-educated and I graduated from a top school in the Philippines, plus I have several units earned from the top school in South Korea, Seoul National University. Attaining these educational milestones, for me, is a great achievement. Call me boastful, but I'm proud of being an Atenean and an SNU-graduate because I worked fucking hard to graduate. I was a full scholar in BOTH schools and no one has the right to tell me I'm an entitled kid or a 'typical Atenean,' whatever the hell that means. The only people who use words like that are those that I'll prove wrong time and time again.

Yes, I've been called entitled and it's attributed to my graduating from top schools and being a Millennial. Obviously, those people have no idea that I worked my ass (and brain) off to earn my diploma and cum laude status. Maybe they didn't work hard enough for theirs that's why they're projecting their issues on me? Whatever it is, it's been a LONG time since I graduated and I've been working for a significant number of years already. Whatever I'm getting for myself, I work for it. Don't you, too? Whether I'm moving fast or slow, whether my methods are smart or stupid, that's my business.

Surprise, I actually know life isn't easy. Success isn't easy. Surprise! My publishing achievements and literary accolades cost me more than 10 years of writing and keeping at it. Surprise surprise, the highest payout I earned for a poem is $40 and for a piece of fiction, $80. Not much, huh? And it takes months just to come up with one good piece among the rubble of rants.

Everyone knows how to work hard. But I'll let you keep pushing on that wall while I round the corner, because hey, look! There's actually a door.

Work hard, but don't forget to work smart while you're at it.

Yeah, you should have learned this by now.

That way, we'll be able to find solutions to problems faster. We all have different ways of doing things, so be open enough to see what each person has to offer.