Nighthawk by Prince Marlo D. Montadas

Time itself eludes him

mostly at the sala;

it is sabotaged by his living

through idiom,

the television plays

like a warm memory,

and the end table is the repository

of both his cigarette and lighter

beside the broken ceramic jar

where he leans his head,

and dream does not assume responsibility

for his sunken eyes and crumpled kidneys,

and always at the mercy

of his disposition.

The sunlight lazes in the interior

as if merely an aesthetic appeal,

yet the room continues to bleed

from isolation—

how a realist Edward Hopper would have done it,

governed by stillness, and while

motionless—there is life,

my predilection for grief,

and everything left in despair.

He lays out the mattress

on which he and his wife used to sleep.

Soon, a son would die

from a hemorrhage

of the densest compassion.

Prince Marlo D. Montadas is a poet and writer based in Butuan City, Philippines. He is a Graphic Salute Awardee of the 2026 Nick Joaquin Literary Awards and a Fellow for Poetry at the 2026 Davao Writers Workshop. Currently, he is dedicated to exploring the rich history of his city by studying the literary works of Butuan, participating in local festivals, and visiting historical sites throughout the city. His works have appeared in San Anselmo Publications, Voice & Verse Poetry Magazine, Cha: An Asian Literary Journal, Dagmay Literary Journal, The Archipelago Press, and, most recently, in the January 2026 issue of Philippines Graphic Reader.