halimaw, tao
by jessamine liu | From Issue One (Fall 2025)
sometimes i wonder if we are all manananggal
ripping parts of ourselves, exposing our insides, seething with rage
at a world that feels impossible to live in
at a future that feels riddled with loss, and
at systems that makes monsters of us all
sometimes i wonder if our human forms are the monsters,
choosing to be willfully ignorant and neutral, scared to speak of watermelons and man-made famines, of appearing anti-technology and anti-progress
i wonder if the aswangs are more free than us
i wonder why i fear humans more than monsters
how humans have become monsters
how a tiyanak is just a grieving, terrified baby
a bangungot, a spirit grieving her lost home
a manananggal, a soul grieving a heartbreak
i understand monsters
i do not understand people
sometimes i wonder if we are all manananggal
our human masks by day, blending and ordinary, smiling
as if we fear more about offending than defending
as if we care more about our belonging than another person’s dignity
as if the world burning does not concern us
i do not need heroes to rub salt into my skin to vanquish me
my tears will do that for me.
Jessamine Liu (柳垂萱, she/her) is cis-queer, Filipino-Taiwanese immigrant and uninvited settler on the stolen lands of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ilwətaɁɬ təməxʷ (Tsleil-Waututh) First Nations. She is also a diasporic writer, artist, hobby collector, facilitator, and student counsellor with big bunso energy (aka youngest child vibes).
As a diasporic artist, Jessamine often writes about connection and disconnection to culture, ancestors, family, community, and identity. She hopes that through grief, resentment, spite, and loss in these experiences, she can find and connect with others through joy, community, and hopeful longing.