April 13, 2014: I wasn’t going to participate in NaPoWriMo this year, but today’s prompt was too tempting to pass up — “Today’s (optional) prompt is a “replacement” poem. Pick a common noun for a physical thing, for example, “desk” or “hat” or “bear,” and then pick one for something…

I finished writing this poem three years ago, on the first day of 2016. Since then, it’s gotten rejected from every single publication I tried sending it to, but that’s okay. …

You want to know how to tell the difference between the snake that is harmless and the snake that will kill you, and the answer is you can’t. Red and black safe for Jack, red and yellow et cetera, but you won’t remember this when it’s zigzagging through the grass…

for jonghyun & this is the place for you to stand & this was the verse written for you to sing & these would be days when you’d be laughing, yes. i am sure. & this is the bread i take from the cupboard & this is the butter i…

Writing about music is hard when you are not possessed of the Legit Music Criticism Vocabulary — but I’m trying my darndest now for SHINee, the inimitable South Korean boy band known as the “Princes of K-pop,” who are celebrating their tenth anniversary this year with a series of EPs…

Story I wrote for a short story exchange with a friend back in 2011. This was an attempt to imitate Oscar Wilde’s style, and though I don’t care much for the story itself now, I think the Wildean homagery isn’t too shabby. He was a handsome little thing, to be…

“O-kay. Let’s see what we’re dealing with here.” He clicks his tongue and flips the folder open. Then he starts to read, and his eyes grow a little wider with every line. “Oh, that’s beautiful. Spatial intelligence test, six minutes. Obstacle course test, eight and a half minutes. Five-dimensional Rubik’s…

Two years ago for class, I had to write a review of a recently-published book of Filipino poetry. Found the file again recently, so thought I’d put it up if only to remind myself that it’s okay to have strong opinions. The Narcissus of Greek mythology, hopelessly trapped in a…

Circa 2013, when my poems were still very third-culture kiddy-slash-mountain mountain-slash-ALL MY LADIES. This is where I stop asking permission — somewhere between the loosening of shoulders and the unraveling of thunder. Tonight, I will teach you what it is to have the quivering earth swallow you whole. …