Freytag’s Pyramid

by Robert Salvador

Marlboro Blast breath,

oysters and pageant reruns.

A porn star on my bed,

stupid extrovert of Silay,

everybody’s ex-bf.


I, a secondhand smoker,

quitting his Ph.D. dream.

They, same PE teachers,

different Saturday mornings.

I long for Kabakalan.


I tweeted on X:

The best fellatio yet.

“Do I taste like sea?”

Explaining carbon footprints,

I stood naked at sunrise.


I turned off the world—

no 1AM Miss Universe feeds,

no crown for the Philippines.

Playlist stuck on Lana Del Rey,

lips uneven, truths uneven.


Grad school said I’m done.

I’m not. Not with you. Not yet.

You whispered “Babe,” low,

I answered with “Pota,” sharp.

We never left our wreckage.

Robert Salvador is an educator, researcher, and poet based in Bacolod City, Philippines. He holds a master’s degree in education and teaches English, literature, journalism, and research. His creative works are autobiographical pieces drawn from memory, identity, and his lived experience as an unusual man navigating the complexities of the 21st century.