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The stanza introduces the idea that in the setting of the poem, thousands of people have died and the numbers continue to rise. I find it interesting that the pronouns "I" and "you" are both used in this stanza because it means that the persona is directly talking to a second person. This second party is most likely the reader/s of the poem because the following stanzas do not contain details that could point to a second fictional character.

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This stanza further emphasizes the problem referred to in the first by using news articles as imagery. The lines "Headlines looking more and more like obituaries... straight to the front page, bold font, as if to say look!" show that the issue at hand, particularly the rising number of deaths, has become so rampant that it has become the main focus of the news.

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The person/people that the persona is talking to starts to appreciate the fact that the former is/are still alive and well.

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The first line of the stanza could be referring to violence that the persona's community faces. This could also be one of the reasons behind the great number of deaths. The last two lines reiterate that more and more people continue to die, this time worded in a figurative manner.

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This whole stanza possibly alludes to the suppression of media in the Philippines back in 2020 when the government sanctioned the cessation of ABS-CBN, the country's largest media outlet. The use of phrases such as "bubbling cold", "more chilling than total silence", and "all the hurt in the world are distilled into a hum" give the reader the feeling that not only does this event/issue harm people, it also scares them because the pain experienced by the community is silenced.

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This, in my opinion, is the entire point of the poem - the author wants their readers to know how drastic the situation was back in 2020. As mentioned in a separate part of this analysis, the Philippines was going through one of its toughest periods back in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, media suppression, passing of an unethical law, and the overall disregard of basic human rights. The lines "And from nothingness, you muster nothing. And when they try to devour us with a hunger so infinite, we will surrender to them only nothing." really drive home the point that all hope for a bright future will be lost if unjust events like those previously mentioned continue to happen.

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There is no clear description of a specific individual or group of people found in the text. However, based on the date the poem was written (July 2020), the background of the author (Alfonso Manalastas is a Filipino poet), and certain details in the poem, we can infer that the persona is a Filipino in the midst of the pandemic (based on date of publishing and background of author). The persona is determined to be updated with the news, and this can be seen in the line "Headlines looking more and more like obituaries (Stanza 2, Line 2)".

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The poem is written in a way that the persona is speaking in a very urgent tone as if a problem has arisen and requires immediate fixing. In the very first stanza, the persona counts the number of dead people, presumably from the pandemic or some other national/global phenomenon. The numbers mentioned, "Sixteen thousand and one, sixteen thousand and two (Stanza 1, Line 4)", normally would evoke widespread concern because it means that a substantial amount of people are dying from a given issue. Secondly, the persona also sounds awfully troubled because in the midst of all the chaos, media coverage, specifically in television, is lacking. The lines "In a manner at times more chilling than total silence. Where all the hurt in the world are distilled into a hum, you turn on the TV and find nothing (Stanza 5, Lines 3-4; Stanza 6, Line 1)" reveal that information about the problem that the persona and their community is facing is being suppressed.

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After reading this poem over and over again, the poem makes me feel worried for the persona because of the number of deaths occurring in their world. The title, itself, already sets the mood with the use of the word "Nothings" as if all hope is lost and all that is left is desolation and mourning.

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The poem contains several pieces of imagery that helps the reader to resonate with the emotions that the poem is trying to convey. These include:

Visual
- "The pitch black swallow of a TV screen flickering off (Stanza 1, Line 2)"
- "Headlines looking more and more like obituaries... Straight to the front page, bold font, as if to say look! (Stanza 2, Lines 2 and 4)"
-"You turn on the TV and find nothing, and in the streets, More nothing. (Stanza 6, Lines 1-2)"

Auditory
- "If written words could stutter, is this how they sound?
Like the static of a broken TV channel bubbling cold
In a manner at times more chilling than total silence
Where all the hurt in the world are distilled into a hum (Stanza 5)"

Tactile
- "Vibrating like a pulse engine right before it conks out (Stanza 4, Line 2)"

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The recurring symbol of the poem is a broken or blank television. This could represent the shutdown of the highly touted channel and news outlet, ABS-CBN, back in 2020. This event was, and still is, deemed as controversial because it occurred during one of the country's biggest and most concerning crises in recent years, a time when reliable information was most necessary.

Another symbol used throughout the poem is death. On surface level, the high death counts in the poem would be referring to thousands of people dying most likely due to the pandemic. However, I believe that death in the poem does not only refer to that of citizens, but to the country as a whole. Looking back to the year 2020, the Philippines faced numerous events that negatively affect its people such as the pandemic, the shutdown of ABS-CBN, and the passing of the Anti-Terror Law. The use of death in the poem could be the author's way of expressing their worries for the future of the country. This point is further strengthened in the last stanza where it mentions that "from nothingness, you muster
[n]othing". This means that if today there is nothing, then there will also be nothing in the future.

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Hopelessness, in my opinion, is the main theme of the poem. All throughout the text, imagery of dying people and chilling silence are scattered. Additionally, the last stanza focuses on "nothing" which is an indication of hopelessness. The poem paints a really dark and bleak picture of a dystopic society whose subjects are forced to spiral into meaninglessness.

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Different figures of speech found in the poem:

Stanza 2
- Hyperbole: "you regurgitate numbers and gigabytes"
- Simile: "Headlines looking more and more like obituaries"
- Personification: "Straight to the front page, bold font, as if to say look!"

Stanza 4
- Simile: Vibrating like a pulse engine right before it conks out
- Hyperbole: "You recount the dead until you fumble over the myth. Recount until you run out of fingers to count them with"

Stanza 5
- Personification: "If written words could stutter, is this how they sound?"
- Simile: "Like the static of a broken TV channel bubbling cold"
- "Metaphor: "Where all the hurt in the world are distilled into a hum"
- Personification: "Where all the hurt in the world are distilled into a hum"

Stanza 6
- Hyperbole: "You turn on the TV and find nothing, and in the streets, More nothing.... And when they try to devour us with a hunger So infinite, we will surrender to them only nothing."

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The poem depicts a society where people continue to die in large numbers where it seems as though all hope is lost. Considering the date that the poem was made and the background of the author, it is possible and highly probable that the poem was written to be about the situation of the Philippines in 2020. At the time, the COVID-19 pandemic was still relatively new to the country and the government's response to this crisis was deemed slow and had a lack of urgency according to many. This caused hundreds, and eventually thousands of Filipinos to lose their lives hence the recurring mention of death in the poem. Additionally, around the time this poem was created, the government moved to disallow the franchise renewal of the largest news outlet, ABS-CBN. This shutdown was a cause for concern in the eyes of many Filipinos as it meant the suppression of the media, an occurrence that also happened during the Martial Law era. At the same time, the government had also passed a new law which basically allows law enforcement to arrest anyone they believe to be engaging in acts of terrorism. This law violates human rights as it allows for unjust incarceration at the discretion of those in power. These two events would be the explanation behind the lines about broken televisions seen throughout the poem and the feeling of bleakness evoked in the last stanza.

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Overall, I really enjoyed the poem as it was written from a place of passion. Taking into account its context, which includes the date of writing, background of the author, and the tone and style of writing, I could tell that the author was definitely concerned about the difficult situation that the Philippines had to, and still has to, endure. This, for me, deserves to be read and taught to more Filipinos because they must understand the oppression that our countrymen are forced to face every day in this crisis.