May You Never

May you never have to question your position on where you stand in someone’s life; the life of the one who claims to love you

May they never tell you and make you feel like an option when they were your choice to begin with

May you find the one who will never let you go to sleep mad, sad, overthinking… the one who wraps their arms tightly around you when they wake up in the middle of the night

May you find the one who holds you when you cry and never tell you that you’re weak for crying over things that overwhelm you or the things that are important to you but are not to them

May you find the one who listens and holds you while you cry oceans over petty or deep things; the one who cherishes the moments when you lay down your guard

May you find the one who’s ready to lend a hand when you fall on your knees; the one who’ll let you pick yourself up but is ready to carry you when you need them to

May you find the one who holds you when you’re falling apart; the one who would cross rivers and oceans for you

May you find the one to hold your hand as you go through storms; the one who’ll go with you wherever you venture to

May you find the one who respects your opinions, your boundaries and acknowledges your efforts and your presence; the one who appreciates you

May you find the one who makes you genuinely and truly happy; the one who will tell you that you’re beautiful and make you feel you’re worthy

May you find the one who’s proud to call you theirs; the one who’ll never hide you from the world

May you find the one who will meet you halfway and fight for what you have as fiercely as you do; the one that deserves you

May you find the one who gives love as much as you do; the one who’ll never be scared to tell you “I love you”

May you never settle for less than what you deserve

Why Are You Still Single?

Please don’t make your first question a “How’s your love life?” believe me I will tell you “it’s non-existent.” I’ve actually been asked this so many times that I’m making my love life a taboo subject because it should be none of your business.

Please stop saying “No way! You’re too pretty to be single!” thank you for thinking that I’m pretty, but outer appearance does not equate to relationship status. Yes it’s been a really long time since I’ve actually been together with someone and it’s my decision, not yours.

Please stop comparing me with my friends who are happily in love. I am well aware that I am the lone ranger in the squad, love came in the “destined” time for them and I am very happy that it did, you don’t know their story and neither do you mine, so stop comparing.

Please don’t make assumptions that I’m with someone because you often see me mention them on Twitter, or post pictures with them or even because you see me talk to them often, don’t make my social media accounts a validation mechanism, I still believe in privacy.

Please stop telling me that I should start dating, I actually already am considering it and it just so happens that nobody has passed stage 1 yet. I’m hard to get and I’m not pretending, I just really am but I ensure you that if you do get me, it will be worth it.

Please stop telling me that I’m too picky, of course I should be! Because the goal is to marry that person.  I wouldn’t want to spend the rest of my life with someone who I was unsure of, of someone who can’t handle me, of someone who will tell me that I’m showing my true colors when I show him every single color that I have, of someone who will tell me to get my attitude straight when I’m being difficult, of someone who is on a different wavelength than me, of someone who I wasn’t truly, deeply and madly in love with.

I will flourish in that aspect with someone who I deem is “the one” for me, whom in return believes I am “the one” for him, in the right time. I’m in no rush, yes at times it gets lonely, and who wouldn’t want someone to stand by their side, right? But I do get by on my own.

Love is not a one way track, nor does is exist because of pressure from outside forces. Love should not be make believe nor forced, it should not be mistaken for momentary happiness, or the butterflies in your stomach. Love should not also be mistaken for admiration because the discovery of true love is a process that takes time, effort and patience.

So please, stop asking me why am I still single.

Do You Still? (I, Me and Myself)

Dear Me Right Now,

Hey, what’s up? Hello? Do you remember that song? God, its funny how everybody just started to discover it when you’re so sick of it already. How are you?  I hope all is well with you, where are you working? Are you happy with where you are now? Do you love what you are doing? I hope you do because I have worked so hard for you to get there.

I hope you still remember me, I hope you kept some parts of me, I know you will because I know that you like looking back at the things that made you who you are today. Do you miss me? Do you miss this life? Do you still forgive easily? Are you still updated with the latest music? Are you still a Swifty? Do you still hate Katy Perry? Are you still a good cook? Do you still experiment in the kitchen and create new dishes? I hope you haven’t failed because so far I haven’t. Do you still create songs, poems and spoken word pieces? Do you still play the guitar? I hope you do because writing is your best defense mechanism. Do you still do create art or write at night because your brain is most active at that time? Do you still like writing things down instead of typing it on your computer? Do you still hate proofreading? Do you still fight for what you want but know how to compromise? Are you still opinionated? I hope you are because it’s better to hold your own.

Maybe you’re wondering why I’m asking you all of these but this is me reminding you of who you are 10 years before, reminding you of your twenty year old self that is full of dreams to reach, in school and near to graduating college. The you who is afraid of the future but still keeps her head high to face the unknown because she likes to discover new things. The you who is so unlucky when it comes to love because she intimidates guys and most of them can’t handle her ; the you who honestly has no idea how some people can bounce from one relationship to another in split of a second because  for you it’s so hard to find someone you legitimately like. The girl who ever so stupidly got herself in trouble because of her curiosity, the girl who always gives her 150% because she likes winning but is able to accept failure because she knows that someone out there is better than her but as long as that person has not arose, makes sure that she is good at her craft, the girl who is caring and is so motherly, the girl who knows how to shift from playful to serious when the situation deems so, the girl who secretly likes riding the carousel  with her sister because it brings back her childhood, the girl who questions herself because she thinks she’s not doing it right, the girl who is obsessed with staying slim because she doesn’t want to go back to being fat, the girl who loves chocolate and black, the girl who likes testing her limits.

I hope that you never forget to breathe when things get rough; I hope that you don’t make the same mistakes that I did today, go ahead and make new ones so you can learn. I hope that you still quickly pick yourself up when you fall, I hope that still know the difference between what can be salvaged to something so toxic.

Stay strong, please don’t let other people’s opinion get into your skin ever again, we both know what happened when I let that happen. Please never forget to smile and pray, enjoy the now and love the people around you. Travel because that’s what I’ve been planning for you, see the beauty of the world and please don’t forget to love yourself because right now, I love me and you and I’m proud to call you and me as myself; I hope you are proud to call I and me as myself as well.

Love,

Me From the Past

Grad-waiting

Everyday is an endless debate of “I want to graduate already!” and “I don’t want to graduate yet.”. There are days when I’m just so stressed with school that I just really wanna pass and get my diploma, then there are times that I just want to stay a student because the corporate world scares me. The future scares me because there’s no saying on what will happen next.

Seeing the industry that I want to be a part of is very different from actually getting first hand experience. Internship is very important in determining whether you want to pursue this road or try a different path after graduation.

Currently, the only line between being a student and official unemployed is just a semester. One very fast approaching semester and it’s the shortest one within the school year with just 4 months and having the APEC Summit off and Christmas vacation in between.

It’s nerve wrecking to actually think about it, because you’re torn in wanting to graduate, earn money and start building an empire (okay fine, fulfilling your dreams) and staying in school and do what you’ve been doing most of your life. It’s an endless contradiction of wanting to be successful and on your own feet and just wanting to marry and be at home. Wanting to travel the world but have to work your ass off first so you have money to spend on the plane tickets, wanting to move to another country but you have to garner experience first. Big dreams, big, big dreams but how do you start? how do start fulfilling them from the bottom when you’re so comfortably inlove with school life?

As much as I hate to admit it, I can’t imagine not waking up, going to school, meet my friends, be in class, create an out-of-this-world PR plan, dream about graduating and moving to New York, shopping till you drop at Gucci, Prada, Jimmy Choo and Christian Louboutin but how is it to wake up for work, meet people who can be true to you or be medusa, work for money to satisfy your basic needs, wait for you to be promoted, create an out-of-this-world PR plan and have your boss say “That’s too ambitious, think about the money. be practical, don’t be stupid, kid. Welcome to the “real” world.”, have your hard work thrown in the trash, go home real late from the office and get up real f*cking early with your eye bags bigger than Kim K’s behind and going to the office again.

How can I compare the student life to that? That when you cry when things get too stressful you have your friends there because duh, you’re classmates, how can you bare the separation anxiety that you experience with the people you spent the most important years of growing up with? How can you compare making mistakes and having your professor there to point and correct what you got wrong so you can learn to when you should never make a mistake even if you’re a newbie because ‘new’ doesn’t exist when you’re in the workplace? How can you let go of your comfort zone?

My head is filled with questions and possibilities that keep me up at night, I worry about tomorrow and tomorrow is coming fast, time is not flying fast, it’s teleporting nowadays.

Time will never be your friend, it can never adjust for you; you have to adjust to it. Like you can stay 17 forever in your head, ways and heart because you’re just not ready to move on, but physically your already 30, fat, jobless and still not moving on. Time will never wait for you, so what you can do is catch it.

image courtesy of Google Image

Isosceles By Angel Cruz (Spoken Word Piece From Intramuros Rising III)

Isosceles

I wish for you to have amazing sex with her every night!

I wish she does everything u tell her to, bend her body in angles her bones are not accustomed with, wont tell u to stop,wont ask you to be gentle…

I hope you feel like coming home to a whore. I hope she feels like she has nothing to offer but this, no warmth, no orgasms that quake more than the muscles, no quiver… joint souls, no lovers intertwined.

I wish you read long letters to her which she does not understand. I wish she becomes the cliche in your poems because you have nothing else to write about.

When the only wetness u are swimming into is a stagnant pond of algae,

you will remember how you wished i was your river, how we flowed into the ocean to be as wide as the horizon. You will remember how the moon reflected tales of lovers in our eyes and how we tried to be them.

You will know that sometimes it is important to fight, make your voice shake the ground the nieghbors press their ears to the floor anticipating for something tragic..

You and i are tragic lovers.

We both know that.

But aren’t the most tragic stories also the most epic?

Didnt juliet swallow death?

Dont we all ingest poison everyday to prove we are the brave ones who love and asks for nothing in return, even if all you want is to be loved in return..even what we are, are dried up bodies tying to hydrate dried up souls.

Lover, we live in a generation where people rejoice in brokenness..

make ugly beautiful,make curses sound like promises..

“Stay a little bit longer”

“I love you but i cannot leave her..

Stay…but  not a little bit go pick her,

tell her how she uncomplicates wanting,

tell her how you understood exactly what she meant when she asked you to love her.

Tell her that there arent oceans you’ve had to swim across just to reach her bossom,

Tell her that there arent any nights that you cried beside her, just because the thought of losing someone so fragile terrifies the fuck out of you

Tell her that the reason why you hold her hands is because your palms feel empty..

Tell her that you have forgotten how it feels to dance under street lamps…

Tell her that her body needs nothing more but another body,

tell her she makes everything feel easy…

Show her your calloused hands and tell her how you struggled with me,

show her the bloodstains on your skin and convince her that you tried to rinse them off..

Tell her i never loved you anyway..

and convince yourself that i never did,

Lover, when i told you my body couldnt bend in angles my bones arent accustomed with,

i was inviting you to not be rigid..

i was asking you to understand that sometimes,

bodies do not need force, just need presence, just need touch..

Pick her.. allow her to marvel in the beauty you discovered in darkness..

Allow her to unclench ur fists.

Allow yourself to discover gentle..

and be that..

Tell her to be everything you want her to be…

while wishing she was me..

BY : Angel Cruz

For more of her work please visit her blog here and please like Words Anonymous’ Facebook for more awesome pieces right here.

Image courtesy of Google Images

I Know, Love.

I see your muscled back turn away from me as you stir in your sleep, your face so calm and gentle faces me now and I hope my astounded gaze does not wake you. How did this beautiful person became mine? I count the days that I will last see your face, for I know what you are hiding.

I know that you’re tired of me, I know that the end is near for you and me; as silence tells me everything that you don’t say because you don’t want to hurt me in any way. I know, love, and I promise I’ll break it to you soon.

Allow me to lift the burden on your shoulders; that when you come home at night tired from work, all you have to do is rest and be at peace with the TV on, pizza and a beer on your hand and not worry about anybody else but you.

Allow me to smooth out your life as I know that the rigid road has bruised you too much to move, allow me to remove the hook stuck on your lips when you were fished out of the sea.

Allow me to remove the burden that is me

I know, love, that I no longer help you grow, that I no longer aid your wounds and end your suffering. That I’m no longer the smile on your face, the beat of your heart and the mate to your soul; but love, I know that you will find her.

And when you do, please tell her how lonely it was at nights when you couldn’t see her face or hear her voice. Tell her how you would bring your chariot with your white horses, your sword and your shield and fight through battles just to reach her. Tell her how you asked the Gods and Saints to give you strength and keep you safe, so you could go through war for her.

Show her how you waded your sword through your enemy’s chest because the thought of not coming home to her frightened you. Show her how much you missed her, longed for her and love her through the gentleness of your thrusts as you enter her.

Court her with the best of you and love her with all of you, show her how she is behind every smile, laugh and triumph in your life

Protect her like you were Davy Jones and she was your treasure, treat her like Cleopatra and make her feel so beautiful, show her how you are ready to move mountains and terrains just to see a smile on her face.

Show her how she was a part of your soul by making her see you at your most vulnerable and allow her to be the best of you; show her that if you ever were to lose her, you would lose yourself too.

Love, I know all these because that is how I am with you.

By Trish Perez

The Naked Truth: Retrospect by Niko Oredina

Photo by Niko Oredina

Model/Hair Artist: Trish Perez

Makeup by Reneé Solis

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Photo by Niko Oredina

Model: Ayah Averion

Makeup: Reneé Solis

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Photo by: Niko Oredina

Model : Gecky Enario

For more photos click here, please do not forget to like the page.

If you are inetrested to book the photographer to cover events and ocassions, you may contact Niko Oredina via Facebook and Instagram

Makeup Artist Reneé Solis via Facebook or Instagram

Models Trish Perez via Facebook, Twitter or theinvertedtrish@gmail.com

Ayah Averion via Facebook or Instagram

Gecky Enario via Facebook or Instagram

The 5 Things You Will Discover in College

Oh college the time when everybody transforms into butterflies. You know how they say that college will make you realize many things? Well I’ve laid out 5 of the most important ones I have in encountered in my last 3 and a half years in it.

1. Grades don’t matter, but a degree does.

You may not see it now, but gradually you will. Please realize that no matter how you turn the world around, a degree would get you somewhere. Unless you’re Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg then I don’t doubt that you’ll be an overnight billionaire.

2. S T R E S S

You think you’ve been stressed in High School? Oh baby, you have NO IDEA what college will bring into your life. But keep in mind that STRESSED is DESSERTS backwards. Hoho #PigModeOn

3. There is a thing called “15 minute nap”

When you are stuck between catastrophic left and right cyclones of academic, co-extracurricular activities, social life, love life, art life and whatever-else life, trust me, sometimes coffee is not enough to wake you up. When you’re caught up in all of that, it’s inevitable to skip sleep but give your body what it needs and craves. The 15 minute nap was non-existent in high school and I was juggling A LOT of things. Just take that 15 minute powernap; little sleep is better than no sleep.

4. The Friends that you will keep forever

They say that friends are so hard to find in college, I doubt that because all it took me was opening the door of my classroom on my freshmen year and sitting next to a bunch of strangers and laughing like we have known each other all our lives.

5. Growing Up

This is by far, the scariest thing that I have encountered in college; the realization that I am no longer a kid.

GIF images by Giphy.com