A Writer in Manila

A hotel room in Singapore, 2013

This is how we begin:

Inch by inch, slowly. Uncertain.
A space, made for one’s self, outside the world.

There is the you that faces everyone.
A semblance, perhaps.
A ghost, maybe.
A facade.
Plywood walls of smiles and handshakes and embraces.
You start with the fragile things. Then slowly, you put up the steel frames, the bricks.
Until again, you have built a fortress.
You are impenetrable.

But: leave a little door open.
Just a small crack.
Let the morning light come in.
Let it show you the way.
And when you are ready to begin, walk outside slowly.
Then breathe.

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