These Are The Cusses

These are the cusses

splashing onto your face

for smiling back at the winks

of Manila lifestyle magazines.

These are the assholes

for hours wasted staring at

the leather shoes, the skinny pants,

the caps, the luminous sheen of

high-res photographs.

These are the tarantados

for hopping into the cars of the cool,

for touching the frames of the party pages,

the captions, the lights, and the mugs who rule.

These are your well-deserved gagos.

They are inside a box wrapped in ululs, so the

next time you talk to your payroll ATM,

you can see it can't spit words from Zara and H&M.

And don't forget these pretty putanginamos.

wear them whenever you feel climbing the ladder,

singing the anthem, and seating on the toilet.

Your shit may be brown, hard, and sticky, but

it'll still look like a cake in a box of glittery.