Shower

Shower

if i could shower the world with kindness,

i’d make a forever-rain of it

a warm, golden downpour
drifting from cloud to cloud,
washing over rooftops,
running through alleyways,
sliding beneath front doors,
gathering in the cracks of forgotten places.

i’d let it fall on every home,
every community,
every neighborhood,
until kindness streamed through the streets
like rivers after a storm,
until every porch light glowed a little brighter,
until every empty table found a meal,
until every lonely room filled with laughter.

i’d shower the world so completely
that no one is mobbed by hatred,
no one is bruised by cruelty,
no one is left standing in the cold,
watching life pass by from the shadows.

the rain would keep falling
soft as a mother’s hand,
steady as a heartbeat.

and wherever it touched,
hunger would loosen its grip,
fear would fade like mist at sunrise,
and people would look at one another
not as strangers,

but as shelter.


For Esther’s Prompt

Your new word is

SHOWER

Manila Skyline

What are the biggest mistakes people make when visiting your country?

Visitors expect Manila to be like Singapore, Tokyo, or Bangkok. Many disappointed visitors arrive with the wrong expectations. Manila is chaotic, crowded, and sometimes messy, but it also offers vibrant neighborhoods, shopping, nightlife, history, and famously friendly locals. Visitors who embrace the city’s energy rather than comparing it constantly to other Asian capitals usually have a much better experience.



Manila Skyline (Orange Hues)

the Manila skyline burned in orange,
they said it was pink
but does it matter?
not for me, not for me,
whose only memory of the sunset is you.

the sunset is all i ever had of you,
all i ever had
your eyes aflame,
your eyes on fire with love,
burning with desire.

and as the sun sank slowly,
slowly into night,
baby, we knew,
we fell hard,
we fell deep
into loveโ€™s quiet chaos.

along Rectoโ€™s crowded streets,
across Mendiolaโ€™s crossing,
where humans outnumbered cars,
we moved in silence,
deep, harrowing silence.

the sun went down,
the traffic cleared,
so did our chance
our only chance at love.

and like that afternoon,
every time we say goodbye,
i break
a million pieces,
a million more
heart shattered, soul beaten,
mind blank with absence.

one fateful afternoon,
one blazing sunset,
one lost love,
two broken hearts,
two wandering souls forever.

and here i am,
trying to stitch meaning
from rhythm and rhyme,
from words that fail me,
from verses that collapse
before your memory.

but still,
as my words stumble,
as my lines fall like rain on tin roofs,
i think of you
and of that love
that afternoon,
that blazing orange sky
there was me,
there was you,
there was fire.

Manila skyline,
bathed in perfect orange hue
thatโ€™s how i loved you.
thatโ€™s how i lost you.
thatโ€™s how i remember you.

orange, pink,
does it matter?
not for me.
not for us.
the skyline remembers,
and so do i.

“Afternoons That Tasted Like Love In Manila” releasing this July.

*thanks to Nigel Byng for this art card

What Is It About A Love Song?

Whatโ€™s a song that always puts you in a good mood?

What Is It About A Love Song?

i’ve always wondered what it is about a song
that makes us wander back down memory lane
like walking willingly into the rain,
letting ourselves be drenched
by thunderclouds of old emotions.

we leave shivering,
cold enough to ache,
carrying the fever of things long gone,
and still, somehow,
we keep coming back.

to the same song.
the same melody.
the same rhythm.

the one that knows exactly where we’re broken
and touches the bruise
over and over again.

what is it about a song
that turns a memory into a ghost?
that lets absence sing louder than presence?

what is it about a song
that makes me hear you in every note
in the spaces between the lyrics,
in the breath before the chorus,
in the silence after it ends?

and no matter how many years go by,
there you are
waiting inside the melody,
teaching my heart
how to miss you
all over again.


For David’s Weave Weekly Prompt

Use either (or both) of these lines as a starting point for your poem:
โ€ข โ€œmy delicious walk in the rainโ€
โ€ข โ€œwhat it is that music is trying to sayโ€

“Afternoons That Tasted Like Love In Manila”, releasing this July

A Child

A Child

a child, so-called
of lies and compromises,
of deceits untold
and of broken promises.

living a double life,
pretending to be forthright,
carrying silent strife,
longing for peace tonight.

yet children are not made
to bear what adults conceal;
beneath the masks and shade,
her wounds still seek to heal.

so let the truth be told,
let trust replace disguise;
give her a hand to hold,
and hope before her eyes.

for every child deserves
a home where love is mild,
where care and honesty serve
the welfare of a child.


In addition, our hearts go out to all those affected by the earthquake in Davao. We hope that you find strength in one another, resilience in each new day, and solace in the support extended by your communities and loved ones. Together, we can overcome even the most challenging circumstances.

Let us remain united, offering care and assistance to those in need during these difficult times.

Source: ABC News – Breaking News, Latest News and Videos https://share.google/Sc9QzfMtMGfQ5JV2a

Manila Whispers

Manila Whispers

For years, people asked me to write about Manila. I hesitated. How do you hold a city that is chaos and comfort, fleeting and restless, in words?

Then I realized: Manila had been whispering all along. I just needed to listen.

Afternoons That Tasted Like Love in Manila collects those whispersโ€”tiny, passing moments of love and loss, hope and heartbreak: a smile that disappears too soon, a conversation overheard in a taxi, a fleeting glance on a crowded street. These mga saglitโ€”ordinary, fragile, unforgettableโ€”carry the quiet weight of life in this city.

These are afternoons that lingerโ€”mga hapon na ayaw umalis. They stay in the streets, in memory, in taste, in the soft ache of living and loving.

Step into them. Sumama ka sa akin. Feel Manila not just as a place, but as a feeling: beautiful, fleeting, and a little broken, one fragile moment at a time.

Watermark

Watermark

i draw your memory
like words on a page,
my pen drifting over
where a clock and calendar
peek faintly through the watermark
time silently marking whatโ€™s passed.

a laptop hums beside me,
its screen casting a quiet glow,
reminding me that the world moves on
even when my thoughts are stuck
in that summery afternoon,
your laughter spilling across the page
like a whisper in the wind.

we were young, reckless,
dreaming in the margins of forever,
but time, relentless,
tore the sentences apart.

your smile lingers
in the shadows of these lines,
each stroke of ink
a trace of days we painted
with laughter and light.

you were my compass
in a sea of uncertainty,
and when you left,
i stared at the blank spaces,
the cursor blinking on the screen,
hoping for a message
that never came.

time is said to heal all wounds,
but the ache in my heart
smudges the edges of my pages,
as i wonder where you are
if your hand ever hovers
over paper,
thinking of me.

even now,
you occupy a sacred corner of my heart,
like a watermark in my life,
indelible,
unfading.



A special thanks to my dear WordPress Poet friend, Nigel Byng, for this beautiful art card and for supporting my book promotions

Thank You, Maggie & Winnie

I am deeply honored and grateful to have two remarkable literary voices write the foreword for my upcoming book, Afternoons That Tasted Like Love in Manila.

๐Ÿฅฐ Rowena Liwanag-Suarez, โ€ฌ โ€ญmulti-genreโ€ญ โ€ฌ โ€ญ โ€ฌwriter,โ€ญ โ€ฌpublishedโ€ญ โ€ฌ andโ€ญ โ€ฌ โ€ญ โ€ฌlaunched โ€ญ โ€ฌher standalone poetry book,โ€ญ โ€ฌ โ€ญSweetbriar: The Serenade of a Weathered โ€ฌ
Roseโ€ญ, on September 14, 2025. She is an advocate for those who struggle โ€ฌ to find their voice and individuality. Before this, she had already made a markโ€ญ โ€ฌinโ€ญ โ€ฌtheโ€ญ โ€ฌliteraryโ€ญ โ€ฌworld,โ€ญ โ€ฌ โ€ญ โ€ฌco-authoringโ€ญ โ€ฌbest-sellingโ€ญ โ€ฌinternational poetryโ€ญ โ€ฌanthologies.โ€ญ โ€ฌ โ€ญ โ€ฌRecently,โ€ญ โ€ฌsheโ€ญ โ€ฌpublishedโ€ญ โ€ฌherโ€ญ โ€ฌfirst crime-fiction novella titled โ€ญCodename: Chase.โ€ฌ

๐Ÿซถ Maggie Watson, an acclaimed indie author and poet from Scotland, has touched readers around the world through her heartfelt poetry collections, including Ephemeral Encounters: Her Book of Words, Pieces of Me, In the Shadow of My Pen, A Jar of Stars, Once Upon A Time, and Me and My Shadow. Her work has appeared in numerous literary journals and anthologies, and beyond writing, she dedicates her time to supporting a children’s charity.

To have these two gifted writers lend their voices and insights to Afternoons That Tasted Like Love in Manila is a privilege beyond words. Their generosity, encouragement, and belief in this book have added another layer of meaning to a story that celebrates love, memory, longing, and the enduring spirit of Manila.

Thank you, Rowena and Maggie, for your beautiful contributions. I am forever grateful to have you both as part of this literary journey.

Manila Never Left Me

I left Manila many times.

Somehow, it never left me.

Cities change. We change. Yet some places remain stitched into us so deeply that distance only sharpens their presence. Manila has always been that place for me – a city of sun-drenched afternoons, impossible tenderness, and stories that linger long after goodbye.

Afternoons That Tasted Like Love in Manila is a love letter to memory, to longing, to home, and to the people who make ordinary moments unforgettable.

Within these pages are the flavors, streets, heartbreaks, reunions, and quiet miracles that define a life lived between leaving and belonging.

I am honored to share it with you.

May it remind you of a place you miss, a love you remember, or a version of yourself waiting to be found again.

Afternoons That Tasted Like Love in Manila coming this July

With gratitude to every reader who believes that stories can bring us home.

Afternoons That Tasted Like Love In Manila, Releasing This July ๐Ÿ“š๐Ÿซถ

Corruption

Corruption

corruption is a virus,
gnawing at the marrow of every institution,
while the political system poisons the masses
with illusions dressed as truth,
a mirror of its own rot.

worse than any virus
is manโ€™s refusal to see clearly,
to acknowledge the grotesque simplicity of his own life.
the father, blind to deceit masquerading as childishness,
clings to comfort in ignorance.
the husband, deaf to the truth of his familyโ€™s decay,
wants illusions over accountability.

the wife, afraid that seeking help will make her less,
denies her own fractures and silently bleeds.
the child, cunning in innocence,
manipulates the kind-hearted with victimhood.

and yetโ€ฆ
i have a tender spot in my heart
for all the broken,
for the flawed and imperfect,
for the blind souls fumbling in their darkness.
for even in this chaos,
even in the selfishness and deceit,
there is life, there is struggle, there is beauty
in the imperfect, in the bruised, in the unpolished.

worse than a virus,
more contagious than corruption,
is manโ€™s inability to see,
and still
the heart can hold the broken,
and the broken can shine.


For Violet’s Literary Quote Challenge

โ€œI have a tender spot in my heart for cripples and bastards and broken things.โ€
โ€• George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones


Afternoons That Tasted Like Love In Manila, Releasing this July ๐Ÿ“š

Smothered Tour โ€“ Day 5

Smothered Tour โ€“ Day 5

Welcome to Day 5 of the Smothered Book Tour! Today weโ€™re featuring a special excerpt reading from Chapter 5, โ€œAnnie & Mikeโ€™s Meet Cute,โ€ where Annie Brownโ€™s already chaotic life takes another unexpected turn when a leaking dishwasher brings handyman Mike Tolbert to her door.
Be sure to watch todayโ€™s excerpt reading, learn more about the author, and donโ€™t forget to leave a comment for your chance to win one of three digital copies being given away at the end of the tour!

The Giveaway
Leave a comment at each stop to let us know you were here
and get an entry for a chance at one of three digitals copies
to given away in a random drawing at the end of the tour.


About Smothered, by B.T. Clearwater


Annie Brown’s life could use some renovation. She’s in trouble at work, her ex-boyfriend is stalking her, and she’s just inherited a dilapidated Victorian home from her late mother, who hasn’t quite moved out yet. The last thing Annie needs in her life is a man, but when handyman Mike Tolbert comes to fix her dishwasher, she lets him demo her doubt.
Mike doesn’t need the distraction of a relationship either. An Iraq War combat veteran and divorcee, Mike suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and is dealing with a manipulative ex. Yet, something about Annie snags his heart and he finds he cannot walk away from her.
Annie’s mother doesn’t approve of their relationship, and she’s willing to cross from the realm of death to that of the living to control her daughter. With the ghost of her mother haunting them, Mike and Annie face his PTSD, her troubles at work, and a deadly plot to steal her childhood home, all while fighting to keep their love alive.


Excerpt Reading: โ€œAnnie & Mikeโ€™s Meet Cuteโ€ (Chap. 5)
In this excerpt, from chapter 5, Annie and Mike meet for the first time when the dishwasher in the old house sheโ€™s inherited springs a leak and she calls Mike to fix it.


https://youtu.be/OLC2Q3xJ2PY


About B.T. Clearwater


B.T. Clearwater grew up writing stories, winning Literary Student of the Year for Lake George Central High School in 1984. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in English from the University of Nebraska at Omaha, and a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Western State Colorado University, graduating both Summa Cum Laude, and is a two-time alum of the Superstars Writing Seminars run by Kevin J. Anderson. B.T. routinely judges the Zebulon writing contest for Pike’s Peak Writers, and has published fiction under the science fiction, fantasy, romance, western, horror, and crime genres under different pen names. B.T. Clearwater lives in Colorado Springs with a dog, a cat, and a cast of fictional characters for company.


Tour Schedule

6/1-6/5 โ€“ Smothered, by B.T. Clearwater

Mon. 6/1: Reading: Annieโ€™s Opening Scene (Chap. 1) โ€“ Writing to be Read: https://writingtoberead.com/?p=61490

Tues. 6/2: Reading: Mikeโ€™s Flashback (Chap. 11) โ€“ Roberta Writes: https://roberta-writes.com/2026/06/02/roberta-writes-smothered-by-b-t-clearwater-book-blog-tour/

Wed. 6/3: B.T. Clearwater Interview with DL Mullan โ€“ Undawnted: http://www.undawnted.com/2026/06/undawnted-presents-blog-book-tour-for.html

Thurs. 6/4: Reading: A Ghostly Appearance by Mother Mary (Chap. 10) – Writing to be Read: https://writingtoberead.com/?p=66122ย 


Fri. 6/5 : Reading: Annie & Mike’s Meet Cute (Chap. 5) – Poetry by Mich, Hotel by Masticadores, and Masticadores Phillipines

Purchase link

https://books2read.com/Smothered

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