Fhen M. - Issue 37

Fhen M. studied Writing in the Discipline, The Literature of the Philippines, and The Literature of the World at Eastern Visayas State University. His Waray poem “Uyasan” (“Toy” in English), was published in the collection Pinili: 15 Years of Lamiraw. Fhen M. has received multiple recognitions, including second place in the 1st Chito Roño Literary Awards in the Waray poetry siday category and several daily wins in the DYVL Siday Contest, a radio-based poetry competition. His published works include “Bamboo House” and “Homing” in Horseshoe, Spring 2024 and Fall 2025, respectively. His poem “Shadow Puppet” was accepted by Straylight Literary Magazine, and “Bookcase in the House of My Ancestors” and “Spending the Night on Planet Mars” appeared in Well Read Magazine: Best of 2024, Vol. 1. In 2024, Red Penguin Books’ About Time: A Coming-of-Age Poetry Anthology published his piece “Outside the Block Universe.” One of his poems was also included in Flora/Fauna Anthology by Open Shutter Press. For the 5th Lamiraw Creative Writing Workshop, Fhen M. submitted Waray verses including the siday “Duha nga mga pagtug-an” (translated into English as “Two Confessions”). David Genotiva served as one of the distinguished panelists for the workshop held November 5–7, 2008.

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Pollution at Sunset by Tomas Castano

Beneath a blood-red sunset,

a factory sends thick black smoke

curling into the darkening sky,

casting a shadow across the horizon.

The crimson sky burns like a warning,

revealing a landscape

where greed has overcome duty

Like an employee

at an emissions testing center

who accepts bribes for fraudulent approvals,

it pollutes a system

The factory's smoke drifts beyond its source,

spreading decay across society

as surely as it darkens the evening sky.

Editorial Cartoon in The New Times

The exhaust curled from the pipe not as smoke,

but as a skull—hollow-eyed, breathing poison.

The trees stood leafless,

their branches clawing at a sky gone ashen,

a forest burned down to bone.

A man stood before it,

his finger leveled like a verdict,

and said, “Jail and grave.”

Alan Ogan Tren trades truth

for a tidy tip.