Have you heard of the tragic incident behind the infrastructure project, Manila Film Center, leading to 169 horrifying deaths? Aside from being known in the list of haunted places to explore in the country, it is also where the “Amazing Show” takes place. It is an entertainment show featuring drag queens as well as other artists. This is the inspiration behind my 4th-day entry for the Global/National Poetry Writing Month!
Let me know what you think about this piece in the comments! I’m curious.
Last Night Show in Manila
Blurry. Queens coming back and forth; stylists at a speed of light against the loud orders of the stage director. Similar outside, when a 13-year-old aspiring royalty me is frantically waiting to walk inside the palace of my dreams, the honks of old money cars as the applause on my runway of crossing the road. I promised myself to rise high, dressed up shiny, no matter how father despise my need to be extra.
Blurry. Tourists speak in a language I do not understand. Does their laughter mean excitement for an amazing show to be seen? An audience of all ages, couples, and friends. Men in suits are seated in front of the stage. Does their presence mean my father is wrong? Entertainment is a need, the top-tier provider is my fellow queens. The noises turned into hushed voices until silenced, in my ears, when the click of lights signals the curtain opening. The amazing show has now begun.
Blurry. Queens, staff, and audiences rushed outside the main door. Cries of help, screams of terror, coughs in anger, and more I can’t make of. This is oddly familiar, opposite of what I pictured on the first night of my performance, so I stood still against their plea. I knew his behavior is strange when he prepared me breakfast, congratulating, after learning I did not pursue military.
I am a queen, about to rise high, dressed in the shiniest in my last day on earth – burning extra.
— Maria 
we thought we cannot 