It is no wonder
That cockroaches
Fly, party, and thrive
At night
They feast on its darkness
They sway on its shadows
They flap their wings in glory
At night
For the night
Is truly accepting
Inviting, tempting, full of desires
The night welcomes them
In disco lights, in bars, in clubs
In the narrow streets, in the corners
No judgment, only acceptance
In this beautiful, fabulous, avant-garde night
For in the night
Cockroaches can be butterflies
And no one can smack their beautiful drags and make-ups
With the slippers of the day, of that piercing ray
Of reality, of society
That no matter what, for some
Butterflies they may be in their heart, soul, and body
They are still those cockroaches
That party, fly,
And thrive, fabulously
In this young, vibrant,
Freeing, and liberating night
Jack Lorenz A. Rivera, 17, is an incoming grade 12 student of Manila Science High School in the Philippines. He won the Carlos Palanca award, or the “Pulitzer Prize” of the Philippines, and the longest-running and most prestigious literary contest of the Philippines.