Letter In Which Maria Labo Leaves Her Hometown For Renewal In New York City

Maria Labo is a Filipino aswang, or scar-faced monster, who terrorizes the streets of The Philippines.

To whom it may concern,

This silver bolo still catches the soft glow of my Facebook Marketplace mirror.

I am nothing if not for my gluttony & this keloid along my cheek.

In Capiz, I recall flesh scraping against stainless metal & the air whittled down to new blood—

let’s call it rebirth: my unblemished hands swallowing the dark,

my sawdust-cloaked cavern of wood held by light. I’m sorry for the hunger. New York holds nothing

intently like this village does.

My alabaster teeth. My sacrilege. I trace stars along my craters & squirm as if freshly sliced.

This myth of skin no longer grounds itself to the asphalt— in New York, I want

to let loose Luzon so wild I become holy & salvageable & reborn, to descend & bruise my knees yellow

so I can see the fracture of an American sky from down here.

& today I migrate corrosive, my feet leaving everything touched monstrous: there are better people

to witness a Manhattan winter than a residue of demonic smoke. Look: the horizon &

infrastructure, expelling soot so tender & raw, I can already taste

the city