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Two am
Throbbing eyes—she blinks,
The string of words in front
Flickers and flickers,
Small black ants
against the paper white screen
She jams backspace backspace backspace

Three am
Three more hours until class
Three more hours
Until breakfast
Until washing clothes
Until cleaning the house

Four am
Three hundred sixty words
Out of one thousand—
It’s short, she admits
But words wouldn’t come
She blinks again
Backspace backspace backspace

Five am
This is her fifth coffee
She reads again and 
The sun rises
It’s another day
But it’s still the same for her

Six am
Her class echoes in the house
But she doesn’t hear much
The words sizzle past
Through her pan and chop chop chop
When can we eat ate? [Ate = older sister in Filipino]

Seven am
60 minutes before the deadline
The class rambles on
She sets the breakfast
She jumps on her screen
Write anything she thinks of
And prays it’s correct