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The Fall of Mary

by Althene Gonzaga

Light spills

into a room black as sin.

Shadows form and flicker

on walls white as bone,

reaching out to form

ashy imprints and bloody gashes

on her paper skin, paper thin—

turning blank slate into black cloud,

a floating lifeless shroud,

a bunch of falling petals,

a pool of cherry.

 

Darkness stains

untrodden blankets of snow.

Althene Jilanah Gonzaga, 23, is a senior BA Communication Arts student majoring in Writing at
the University of the Philippines Los Baños. Once, she was a little girl who loved reading stories
about princesses, romance, and magic. And now, she’s passionate about writing stories about
women stronger than they look, love and its many faces, and worlds where the line between
magic and reality is thin. Her work has previously been published in Rappler Voices.

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