Burn

A Sijo

By Sitti Miriya Kiara Geverola

Grade 8 - Dignity

As the final rays of the sun fade, she says, “I have to leave.”

“Think of me as the sun,” she tells me.  “Indeed you are,” I reply.

I wish she could stay. “You light me up, but leave me sunburned.”   

The Howling Wind

A Sijo
By Andrea Gianna Villamil
Grade 8 - Dignity

Though we are friends, don’t be arrogant and don’t tell me what to do.

No matter how the wind howls, the bamboo will never be broken.

If you can stop the wind, then I can acknowledge you for that.

Oxygen

A Sijo 
By Jarren Toreon
Grade 8 - Dignity

You are the oxygen of my life and I can’t breathe without you.

That’s why I need you every single minute of the day.

But with only you, will I still survive in this harsh life?

Why'd You Leave Me?

A Sijo
By Trisha Nicole de los Santos
Grade 8 - Dignity

How can you say you can’t live without me now that you’ve left me?

You said you loved me, but why did you leave me wounded like this?

Now that I’ve moved on, you’ve come back to break my heart again.

The Fear of the Wonderful Tree

A Sijo
By Kyrra Dominique Kho
Grade 8 - Dignity

Oh wonderful tree, what are you most afraid of?  Is it me?

You’ve been afraid of people; is it because we killed your friends?

But now, you’ve overcome your fear to fight us until the end.

Regrowth

A Sijo
By Billy Scott Badayos
Grade 8 - Dignity

You told me that I was not enough, that I am lacking.

Our once beautiful forest was burned by your scorching fires;

But the forest has regrown, bound by the chains of our love.

Surroundings

A Sijo

By Lovely Joy Monacillo

Grade 8 - Dignity

Can I ask you something?  Why are you not cheerful like the flowers?

Your mood is like the atmosphere that changes the sky every day.

But without the sky and the flowers, like you, I will not survive.