​Sa pagkatinuud lang, dili
naku masabtan kung  nganu'ng
ang iyang mga ngabil mamahimung
lunhaw kung matandug sa
tubig dagat.

Nganu’ng ang
iyang tag-as nga mga
piluk hinay-hinay’ng mu
lukut kung mabasa sa ulan…

Hunahunaa,
makadaghan ko n'ang
giagian ang kinatibuk-an
sa iyang panit gamit ang 
tumuy sa akung
mga tudlu.

Apan sa kada
higayu'ng buhatun
ku kini, malumus ang aku’ng
huna huna. Ug bisan unsa pa
ka isug ku nga
motan-aw sa hilum niya
nga hulagway,

kanunay,
kanunay,
mubutyag ang akung
mga mata

---------
To be honest, I could
never explain why his
lips turn green when touched by
seawater; why his eyelashes
curl beautifully at the sight of rain….

Imagine, I’ve
travelled the entire
length of his skin, many
times using only
my fingertips.

Yet each time, my soul
submerges. And no matter
how proudly I gaze at his
quiet face,

​always,
always
my eyes give away.
---------
Translation in precolonial Cebuano (consisting of only 3 vowel phonemes )

Ug diha kita
sa usa ka bahin sa
isla taliwala sa
banlas sa dagat,
sa adlaw, ug sa humok nga
paghunghong niining
hangin sa Pasipiko...Usa ka
tanaman nga nagtubong
bawhag ug wala’y
gikabalak an. Ang imong mga
kamot ug ako’ng mga kamot anaa
ilawom sa langit nga
nagatuyok samtang kitang
duha nagtindog nga
walay sapin, mga mata lamang
alang sa matag usa. Amihan
ug habagat, buntag
ug gabii. Langit
​ug yuta.
Usa.

Kaniadtong
panahanona,
mao kini
kita.

Years later, the universe forgot. Because more important things happened that eventually replaced the adventures of that one September. But she didn’t. She couldn’t.

Especially that 2 am when they drove past the plainness of the city, towards the mountain top where they witnessed the moon quietly meeting its lover, away from everyone's prying eyes.

How they held hands as they marvelled at the red-orange sky as it burst in celebration. How they smiled in silence because they knew no one else saw it.

And how even though he left so quickly, she kept him in her memory. She hears his mischievous laughter at times. She also remembers watching him fade away with the sun as she died in silence.
​
But it doesn’t matter. She loved him. And she still thinks that in spite of having seen so many Septembers in her life, there is only one September that she can call fabulous beyond compare.