By Ayumi Inoue

Tomorrow I will wake up in a different place.

Tomorrow I will be away,

and I have to re-learn to be okay with being away,

as I have for the years I had to stay away.

Tomorrow I will no longer be able to feel the wind against my cheek and sweat forming on my back as I ride the jam-packed jeepney where only a quarter of my ass sits while the barker shouts: “Dalawa pa! O kasya pa dalawa, upo na lang po tayo nang tama, dyan sa kaliwa!” Tomorrow I will no longer pass through streets I grew up treading, familiar manongs and manangs selling kwek-kwek and fish ball on streets heavy with foot traffic, some buildings changed but known to me all the same. Tomorrow I will no longer be able to meet my friends with just a simple “Hoy, tara!”

Tomorrow I will be somewhere stable, somewhere comfortable, somewhere I can live and not worry about food and money and tomorrow.

But tomorrow I will not be home. I will not be.

Tomorrow I will be somewhere better,

but tonight I will mourn not being able to stay.

Tonight I will mourn having to be away.

Translations
Dalawa pa! O kasya pa dalawa, upo na lang po tayo nang tama, dyan sa kaliwa! – Two more! Sit
properly so two more can fit, there on the left!
Manongs – refers to men of the older generation, oftentimes used for merchants or service
providers (like jeepney or tricycle drivers)
Manangs – female version of “manong”, often used for merchants in fish markets and the like
Hoy, tara! – Hey, let’s go!

Ayumi Inoue is an aspiring writer studying Liberal Arts at a university in Japan. Her works can be found in literary magazines such as Transient Mag, Rewrite the Stars Review, Chromatic Scars Review, and more. You can find her on Instagram at @in.iyoume.