Here and Now

would love to talk over coffee anytime, anywhere.

[ralph-with-coffee]

Waiting

I learned to wait under the heat Of my own desire fuming with fire Towards what will quench my yearning For an everlasting happily-ever-after. As the heat grew — I remembered the last reward at the end of such wait. And it was worthwhile the suffering, even as if it required the suffering itself To make itself ever more salubrious. So I wait Under the heat. 5.26.2026

Waiting

[ralph-with-coffee]

Star

A shorting star passed by What a thrill it must be having Running against the air as fast as it can It is literally burning brightly As it sprints towards its course. And what a spectacular firework it would have been Had those two shooting stars collided Against the odds, in spite of their speed, A fiery show would have blossomed In the dark background Of abysmal vacuum of the…

Star

[ralph-with-coffee]

Now

I wanted to ask you What you would do if you knew Your life will end one day. There’s no more “need” or “should” There just is. I want to meet and dance with someone Who is has a passionate heart, A daring soul, a partner-in-crime. If I could dance this life with her, I’d be content. I want to stand on my two feet And know I have done what is right. I want to pay attention to the…

[ralph-with-coffee]

Running

I am running as fast as I can At certain point I have become free from my body — My mind is leaping beyond what I knew possible And rushing for more, faster, and deeper. Maybe the original sense of time was false — Maybe this is the speed everything is. So we keep on going Marching forward. 5.19.2026

Running

[ralph-with-coffee]

(no title)

Star

[ralph-with-coffee]

(no title)

Walk

[ralph-with-coffee]

Limit

I just bursted out loud laughing in the gym. Maybe it’s because my grip just slippedtrying a heavier weight on lat pull downon my last set of twelve reps,maybe it’s because I just surviveda set of barbell squat with all my mighton a weight less than half of that in my peak time. or maybe it’s the voice of Beyoncé ringing like the crystal halo in my AirPods. Whatever it is, all at once, it all…

Limit

[ralph-with-coffee]

(no title)

Burning

[ralph-with-coffee]

constellation

May each of my awaking momentAlign with what truly matters. Upon the dark sky,may the virtues I strive for glow ever brightly. May the love fill the heart rather than fear. May I commit to each fleeting second. May I face what must be done. 5.6.2026

constellation

[ralph-with-coffee]

Will

Keep the willto continue the fight. Remember what you fought for. those who fought with youstill remain in your heart. Remember them. Carry on their willand get to the destination. 5.4.2026

Will

[ralph-with-coffee]

Origin

You would have said, “come on, do it again —forget about them, remember what matters”I remember the scratch on the skin,the scrapbook full of cutout pictures, and the pens. a heavy metal music played from earphones. A fragment of sun light glistened on your sclera. Everything else was just a noise. quietly, tenuously, you scribbled. Against a wall after a wall —- you carried on. A flower…

Origin

[ralph-with-coffee]

Vignette

It was two, no, three storied yellow ltownhouse.Squeaky wooden stairs led to a purple room. I remember the red couch, the glass vinyl playerand a vase of flowers by the window. On a coffee table sat an ash tray filled with cigarette butts. A fishnet hammock between chestnut treesalso had a cigarette burn. A cardboard-made octopus sat by the streetas the song by the Radiohead creaked from a…

Vignette

[ralph-with-coffee]

Flashback

The scent of the rainputs me right back to the moment. One of the Christopher Nolan’s moviesaptly captured the nostalgia. In between rows of library shelvesthe chosen one was from the Norwegian woods. I remember how mundane and profound it was. simple sun, simple air, a plain comment:“in repetitiveness, a new universe can be glimpsed by shifting the angle of my perspective”It seared into my…

Flashback

[ralph-with-coffee]

Dusk

Twilight before the storm moves me.Turbulent waves of tree leaves portendsan impending force growling and swirling. Listen carefully, so you may feel it too:the grand orchestra, the somber parade, the ferocious redemption. As I stroll down the street into the storm,I let edges of myself imbue in its hueas a brief remedial sojourn for my soul. 4.27.2026

Dusk

[ralph-with-coffee]

J

Did we love?I’d say we did. When you brought me into your homeand gave me a bowl of dumpling soup and a bottle of vinegar,I found myself submerged in the kaleidoscope of your worldand only after I had reemerged I knew it was love.in your absence — as the knowledge you were gone had begun to settle —I discovered a cruel determinationwas the only reason I bring myself to the world in the morning.…

J

[ralph-with-coffee]

Norwegian

you were always veiled in mystic quietness.The kind that invokes curiosity and attracts nostalgically beautiful destructiveness. the way your dark brown hair fell across your face as the curtain ebbed by lazy summer wind listening to the music through your earphones of your iPod imprinted into my memory as if I had stared up to the sun with my bare eyes before I could flinch away.who would have…

Norwegian

[ralph-with-coffee]

Y

홀로 서있는 너를 보았다. 떠나는 나를 보고 슬퍼하는 너를 향해앞으로 달려갔다. 우리가 마주한지 많은 해가 지내갔다.마지막으로 너를 마주했던 나는 어렸다.아무것도 모른채, 오직 너만을 바랬다.그 후로 목숨을 걸 수 밖에 없는 순간들이 많았다.뒤돌아설 수도, 도망칠 수도 없는 순간들을정신 없이 싸우고 살아남고 나니 깨달았다.나는, 너를, 정말로, 진심으로 좋아했고,이 세상에, 그만큼, 중요한것은, 사실은, 없다는걸. 죽음이 내 앞에 앉아 기다리고 있다 한들,나는 떳떳하게 말할 수 있다는걸 깨달았다.그 모든 순간들의 역경을 버티고나에게 주어진 짤막한 순간에 나는 너에게 마지막의 웃음을 지으며 이렇게 말한다."야, 내가 너를 많이 좋아하는거, 알지?"내 눈이 너의 눈을 바라 보았고나는 너의 입술에 입을…