No Excuses

Ginawa nilang blade ang salitang mahal kita,
hinugot sa labi, isinaksak sa dibdib
dahan-dahan, paulit-ulit.

Ang trauma, hindi na sugat,
kundi tanikala.
Invisible, pero mas mabigat
kaysa bakal.

It taught me how to obey
in the name of love.

At ang puso?
hindi na tahanan ng pag-asa,
kundi baril na laging may bala,
finger always on the trigger,
waiting for the final reason to break.

I learned to smile while bleeding,
to say okay lang ako
kahit wasak na ang loob.

Because in their world,
love is a weapon,
pain is a language,
and death?
is just another form of silence.