WHAT IS THIS?

September 11, 2026 | 6:00 P.M.

LITERARY: POETRY CATEGORY

"What is this?"

The tulips look monochrome on this end of the road.

The riverbed rushes– tumultuous, chaotic

While the bees buzz inside their honeycombs,

and the birds nestle into their bed of twigs..

I didn’t notice the manacle on my ankle, till now.

Staring at the chain, I traced where the iron led:

down a road dirtied by footsteps and wear,

muddied by seasons and the foliage it shed.

A stranger passes by, shoving down a stack

of heavy paper, cold against my chest,

then disappears into the rushing crowd 

where daunting shadows crouched on desks.

I fear I could not wrap my head around this place.

So, instead, I turn away from the path.

But caught by the chain I’d forgotten about,

Vexation hardened into wrath.

Forward, it pulled, though I wasn’t done with yesterday.

I have daisies to water back at home.

The tulips of this place do not appeal to me.

Yet their sways appear to mock what I bemoan.

Another stranger cuts past, with no care to explain

the watering can they press into my hold.

My arms strain to balance the added weight,

While my eyes shift from ghost to ghost.

What is this road that meanders with little words?

What is this iron biting deep into my skin?

My question thins into the empty air,

as I am forced to serve a life I am not fully in.

Written by: Denise Natividad/ UST Nursing Journal