Let's Grow Together

Our Collaborative Community

[lezgrowtogether-blog]

Cheers!

by Kim and Alanis

Cheers to the good life Cheers to all those years fighting Cheers to all the scars in our body Cheers to those sleepless nights Cheers to the mornings dreaming for nights of silence Cheers to our life Forever questioning if it ever make sense If its worth living Cheers to us For being here, not knowing what's next But still fighting

Words by Kim Mendoza Art by Alanis Avenilla

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//barriers//

by Primo and Cheska

//barriers//have been built over fleeting moments of all the uncertainty you wish to defeat

stuck in a limbo one seems to be an endless curse as you might see

stop waiting stop hoping stop whining stop wondering start moving start working start smiling start believing

within you lies a flicker of hope enough to ignite a burning fire of sensation

stop seeking answers in the wrong dimensions for everything you seek is within you

dig deeper inside for you are a vast universe of possibilities yet to happen

Words by Franchesca Cruz Pictures by Ｐｒｉｍｏ

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Growth

by Kim and Alli

i can see your scars

i notice them sometimes but i try not to stare

but i can also see the flowers that grow in it

i see it in your smile

i hear it in your laugh

i can feel it in the hugs you give people

i may have not known you before

but you are doing great

keep growing

like the plant that you are

Art by Alli Cunanan @gtfo-alli Poem by Kim Mendoza @kimmiktheintrovert

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Not Today

by Primo and Kim

I'm now telling to myself Not today Maybe it was the alignment of the stars and the planet That they were crooked Maybe it was my unfixed bed sheets Filled with papers and pens and cigarettes and things that shouldn't be there Maybe it was just me But I know I wouldn't do it today Maybe I won't ever But someday There's going to be something that will happen in my life that will finally break me One day those stars that shone so bright will explode And those plants will die But as I stood on top today Seeing all the errors of the human nature below me I say to myself Not today Then I say it to the winds around me Not today Then I say it louder for the animals nearby Not today Then I close my eyes And i see them The pain, the frustration, the disappointment, the tears, the smiles Then I scream for all the world to know Not today I'll live another day

Art by Primo Words by Kim Mendoza

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Dalawa

by Neon and Tin

Gumawa tayo ng tula gamit ang ating mga labi.

At sa bawat salitang iyong binabaybay ay babaybayin ng aking mga kamay ang bawat sulok ng iyong katawan.

Bawat pantig ay siyang magiging pintig ng ating mga pulso bawat berso pabulong na pag-amin ng lihim na damdamin.

Sa pagtugma ng ating mga linya ay rima ng ating paghinga sabay sa ritmo ng sayaw ng ating mga dila.

Tayo'y pinagtugma sa taludtod ng mga 'di mabitawang salita, sa mga letra na ibinabadha sa ating mga balat.

Poetry by Kenneth Napoleon Tabafunda Art by Tin Delos Santos (tindelossantos.com)

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Huni ng Dagat

by Neon and Elbert

Asul at kayumanggi and paligid Buhangin, tubig, at langit; Sa maalat na karagatan sisisid at ako'y maaakit, magmamasid sa'yong sining — Sa aking paglunod ay uusbong ang maalamat na pag-ibig

Poetry by Kenneth Napoleon Tabafunda Photos by Elbert Uba

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Laro

by Gerald and Tomomi

A submission for Autotelic's "Laro" Lyric Video. Featured at 03:15 - 03:24.

Line art by Gerald Garcia Colors, layout, and post processing by Tomomi Hayashi

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Dear Wanderer

by Mariah and Franchesca

Dear Wanderer,

I would like to clarify a conviction that existed Ever since the emergence of your kindís cosmic beliefs.

All my life I have traveled at a speed of 130 kilometers per second; I have raced through space faster than a speeding bullet And have seen multitude of interplanetary entities For the longest time.

I have left tinges of my existence Through stellar winds and dust clouds; I have given life to new masses And could have even possibly helped construct new planets.

But you see, Albeit my important contribution to the dimension above you I have not been fully honest with the human race I am incapable of materializing your wishes.

It is beyond my capability to fulfill any of your dreams To materialize hope into reality. But I have listened to every message, caught every tear, And held on to every wish from everyone below.

It is time for me to admit that I am not the product of Ptolemyís introspective curiosity Nor do I slip out of gaps created by Gods Who peer down at the Earth from between the spheres.

For I am but a meteoroid Traveling at a speed of 130 kilometers per second And have only left you with traces Of a trail of glowing material in my wake.

Sincerely, Mira

Poem by Mariah Concepcion Art by Franchesca Cruz

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fluen(t)

by Alanis and Sergi

I’m not fluent in this same as I am with you fluentness is a function dependent on time

and we’ve only known each other for less than a year in that little time, I discovered you were not just a topic or a chapter

you are a field of study that has its own axioms

I don’t want to just know you I wanna learn you I wanna explore you cause I know your head is a universe

Lyrics by Sergi Bantay Music and Art by Alanis Avenilla

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Dearest Luna

by Regina and Franchesca

Luna, my Luna, I was seven; I was clueless. I wondered and wandered At such a young age.

How was life supposed to be?

What was I supposed to do? Floating through my mind, These unanswered prayers.

Luna, my Luna, I was seventeen; I was naive. What was I supposed to think? What was I supposed to feel?

Void after void, it consumed me. It ate me alive whole. Isolation was the answer To hide my inner demons.

Luna, my Luna, I am now in my twenties. Still, lost in the depths of my thoughts. Still on a high with all of these thrills.

This roller coaster ride, Iíve come to understand How life flows around In ups and downs.

Luna, my Luna, How do you watch over the people? Their thoughts wandering through Through the lifeless atmosphere of this cold night.

Decades after decades, Do you not ever get tired? I would like to say thanks For your constant company.

Photos by Regina Morales (@reginuuuuh) Editing and words by Franchesca Cruz (@franchescacruz)

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Desert //

by Alanis and Ketki

she was like the desert. unforgiving, harsh in the means of being simultaneously content on her love and what she desires. like the desert, she looked barren. chasms & pools of hollow. the blackened depth, to many a foreigner, was confused for isolation and a strange sort of solitude. only the weary travelling, persistent as a full moon, could look behind the sheen layer of sand and see. she was not barren.

things were in motion. blurry star struck commotion.

plants growing, sands blowing & all the while she watched with sunset eyes, she was glowing.

under a hazy sun

winds would always change their mind, to the dismay of lost souls midst the dunes.

the desert never rested, and neither did she.

defying constant doubts, the world growing inside inside her thrived with every battle she conquered.

she was the flame, blazing. some think she might’ve fallen from the high sun across the plains. but who knew? she wasn’t one for fables.

she was desert. and the desert never rested… so neither did she.

Photos and poetry by Ketki Mkar Editing by Alanis Avenilla

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Fragments

by Franchesca and Alanis

I’m in search for my missing pieces left in this realm

Photos by Franchesca Cruz (@franchescacruz) Editing and Words by Alanis Avenilla (@alanis-ave)

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Wanderer

by Alanis and Dous

Photos by Dous Glnr Editing by Alanis Avenilla

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Void

by Franchesca and Alanis

Yesterday. Too caught up with everything in a handheld gadget; getting hypnotized with things from a screen. Getting things mixed up from what it really is to what it could have been.

Today. Still stuck in an endless void–this virtual world, it seems. This ambiguity slowly embracing and letting minds off of reality. Fragments of ideas and imaginations slowly slipping away. Will you let it? You shouldn’t let it.

Tomorrow. So many stories yet to be untold from different beings with voices that should be heard. There could be so much more. There should be so much more. There will be so much more.

Photos and words by Franchesca Cruz (@franchescacruz) Editing by Alanis Avenilla (@alanis-ave)