Finding Home

Do you see trees Grasping clouds Just so it would rain? Or the speechless sky Persuading the sun to turn into evening? Do you see the river Stones and rocks Stopping the water From where it's headed Out to the open sea? And the sand, do you see it Tugging the waves To kiss its shores? Or do you think it Comes back again and again In its own accord? Just as a leaf of grass Waits for the first Dew drop in the Early hours of morning And the quiet earth Yearns for the Sight of the first Star to glisten in The blanket of night So shall I remain Right here where You are not As yet In the meantime, Hush your tired heart, Embrace, then Let go. Embrace, then Let go. Repeat. Remember Everything follows, is Nature's course. Photo Credit: http://matthew12photoym.wordpress.com/2012/09/13/111/

1999. I remember every time we'd pass by the road somewhere in Mabolo to and from college, my father would point out to me the young tree he planted just recently with his civic group. He was around 68 years old that time. What was most vivid in my mind was how it seemed so important to him. I felt he was talking more to himself than to me. Was he somehow convincing or validating himself as somebody who did something as good in the suburbs of Cebu? In his life? I thought to myself. If that was indeed the case how badly I wish to tell him had he been alive today that he need not prove to himself what a good, generous and kind human being he was. Because he truly was. I was born into a family nothing short of conventional to say the least. Despite and in spite of the unconventionality of our circumstances, Papa made it a point that my brother and I had nothing to want for and provided for all our needs, materially and emotionally. He called me his "princess". 2013

There's an atmosphere like no other in airports and terminals. Could it be brought about by the very thought of leaving a place one has thought of as home? Or could it be the yearning, searching for another place to call home? Or, maybe the hustle and bustle, the explicit restlessness of these people is a mere byproduct of having explored a place they saw as an ordinary stopover or a few days getaway. And so the conversations go: "I had the best vacation ever." or "Remember when Pedro fell off..." or "What time did you get in last night?" or "Where are you off to?", "Are you traveling alone?" And yet among these loud conversations are hidden, unsaid lines that resonate: "I'm leaving this place." "I need to get out of this place." "I need to find my place." "I'm leaving because I can't stand the pain." "I'm out to find my joy." Indeed, more is

Reunions, parting of ways All in one place Remembering, forgetting Immersing, running away Delicious anticipation Or unforeseeable dread Of what's to come Solace, respite Renouncing, accepting Of all that is unacceptable Laying down boundaries Defying limits Embracing possibilities Going against the tides Reasonable judgments Unreasonable situations Or the other way around But above, beyond And beneath all this-- Courage and grit. Photo Credit: shuttergoclick.photoshelter.com

I'll pick up each and Every broken piece of you Fill the cracks with liquid gold Like this overflow of words My palms and fingers will do their work-- Mold you, mend you, recreate you Until you're whole again. Photo Credit: Google Images

"Despedida" Spanish for send-off, leave-taking This word, It shouldn't have a place in the lives of those who love, I thought But it does. C'est la vie French, it happens, "Life." Walking out The door for a better one One with quieter hinges Or noisier screws Or, maybe it's those Who open the knobs Welcoming us with greener grass Or bidding us, "Come in,  You are safe here.", Who make us Pack our bags Travel light or carry Our entire history Or make us stay Where we are. Who will ever know The truth of One's renouncing for another soul's searching? And those who are Left behind, Are they really left behind? Or are they condemned as well to their Own farewells? Sigh. A thousand ways to say goodbye but not enough words for pain Of parting, of change So really, How many miles do we have to travel,  What places do we need to go, How many goodbyes d

And then when you said hello The four thousand three hundred Twenty minutes vanished Into thin air and All was well with The universe again...