Contact from potential extraterrestrial beings
is never as important as the day-to-day
on the reign of the new fuhrer,
with a fury emblazoned, a dirty exposé,
brighter than the fires in Malibu and Pleasure,
or was it Paradise?

Even the most fitting leaders
wouldn’t know the difference.

Whales choke on the apathy of creatures
supposedly the most intelligent,
as the world shrivels under the weight,
we only grow emboldened to consume at a faster rate
(there is nothing but the ever-present)
and more absorbed with the blue light emanating
from our phones, that which fuels our insomnia.

This new age wave of dizzying Dadaist confusion,
will someone wake us from this constant numbing,
atrocities occurring multiple times a day,
but all too helpless to make change.

…


Keana Marie Águila Labra-Asunción (she/her) is the Editor-in-Chief of Marías at Sampaguitas. Knowing the importance of representation, her work is evidence that Filipino Americans are present in the literary world.