Psyche-

I was born a woman but ended up acting the opposite. Clumsiness and its cousins in the thesaurus is what I am. Finesse goes unsaid and unheard in my world. I preferred oversized tees over fitting blouses. I refused figure-flaterring dresses for loose pants. I would choose a paintless face even being merged with a bin of all-made-up pretties. But I knew I am a woman inside. So are the secret feelings that have silently died. It was only me who knows everything of what-really-is. It was hard shifting to finer moves. Oh graceful me in sweat! I hate being with someone who I cannot see myself. Because to me, gaudiness is parallel to fun. Not long after, I’ve been to stores of pallets. So the smudged me emerged. Little by little, I’ve added garments I thought I can never wear. These changes of seeing ourselves that can improve us.   

The souls... She had three names and I wondered how was she being hard up in writing her complete name her kindergarten days. She grew up in Taguig because of her Papa's work in Metro Manila. With the rest of the family, except for their Papa, she came to spend the rest of her life in the rural. We were sophomores then when we met.  She spoke the dialect though in twisted tongue. I oftentimes ate not only lunch and enjoyed off-class hours in their place. As much as we had fun days, we also shared different times until the high school batch fragmented to pursue college. We found catching up elusive and for the last time I heard about her was she was so sick-- so incurably sick until she demised. I tried to contact her family to attend her funeral but I was not able to go. To her soul, may she rest as with the seas of souls she is with...