Priamo della Quercia’s Circle of the Falsifiers 

The figures are all nude;

their pale, gaunt bodies

with prominent bones and stretched skin

reflect the decay of their spirits.

A lie is a virulent disease:

To falsely claim madness,

or to lie that one is gay,

becomes a contagion of deceit.

The falsehood unfurls,

infecting every soul it touches.

There they lie, stark and stripped,

depicted in the distinctive style

of medieval art.

The deceit of Donny Sabogao, Anameda, 

and their allies slowly spreads,

a sickening sickness

that stalks and swallows

the very souls who spawned it.

About the poet 

Fhen M. is a multi-awarded Waray poet. He placed 2nd in the 1st Chito Roño Literary Awards for Waray poetry, and has multiple daily wins in the DYVL Siday Contest, a radio-based poetry competition. His work has appeared in Horseshoe Spring 2024 [“Bamboo House”] and Horseshoe Fall 2025 [“Homing”], with “Shadow Puppet” accepted by Straylight Literary Magazine. “Bookcase in the House of My Ancestors” and “Spending the Night on Planet Mars” are featured in Well Read Magazine: Best of 2024, Vol. 1.