15 Volume 1, Issue 1, Aug 2019-Jan 2020 POETRY ALPAS Rayven Santos I SAW IT FALLING ONCE: THE LIGHT, LOVE, HOPE, AND EVERYTHING YOU TRY TO PUT IN IT. IT’S CRASHING AND FAILING. IT’S NOT ENOUGH. THOUGH I ALSO KNOW IT WILL NEVER BE TOO MUCH. THE MORE YOU THINK ABOUT IT, THE MORE FATAL IT BECOMES, SO YOU CLOSE YOUR EYES AND FEEL IT DISINTEGRATING IN YOUR HANDS. EVERYTHING YOU HAD IS MELTING AWAY. YOU TRY TO HOLD ON TO IT, IT WAS POISON ON YOUR LIPS. A TIME-BOMB SET INSIDE YOUR CHEST. LANDMINES WERE BURIED IN YOUR PERIMETER, AND SHE WAS FEARLESS. SHE KNOWS EVERY PART OF YOU THAT COULD HURT, AND SHE WASN’T AFRAID TO EXPOSE YOU, EVERYTHING THAT YOU WERE FLEW AWAY WITH THE SMOKE, AND I SAW YOU SHATTER; EVERYTHING WAS ON FIRE BUT SHE WAS A CANDLE THAT CAN’T HANDLE THE FLAME, SHE WAS FADING, BUT YOU WANT TO HOLD ON BECAUSE FOR ONCE, SOME- ONE KNEW YOU LIKE YOU’VE NEV- ER IMAGINED. AND YOU, YOU WANTED TO HOLD ON TO THE TEMPORARY DESTRUCTION.