The Rose of Tacloban

I wrote inside my yearbook

“To try is to succeed

Fried chicken and the rumba

The colors pink and cream”

Ninoy was my first love

But he said I was too tall

A rich girl stole the sweetheart

Of the Rose of Tacloban

The heart grows slightly colder

Necessary to survive

And money makes it easy

In many people’s lives

The sky above protects us

Don’t know what I will become

Or what lies beyond tomorrow

For the Rose of Tacloban

Elegant women on a magazine page

Elegant women, like a paper parade

I don’t go out dancing, I just stay at home

Cutting out their faces, and replacing them with my own

Cutting out their faces, and replacing them with my own

The sky above protects us

Don’t know what I will become

Or what lies beyond tomorrow

For the Rose of Tacloban

What lies beyond tomorrow for the Rose—

Of Tacloban