There's Hope

Born poor and scantily clad
Meals not comparable to the haves
Even with both mom and dad working hard
Living in a small house, only a nipa hut

With just a wick lantern for a light
All lessons done and memorized
With high hopes for that better life
Or for a future that is burning bright

Sweats and hardships never mattered
Stomach churning at times with hunger
Financially strapped, with money not enough
Remedies here and there, a help from an aunt

A working student, sponsored by a lovely lady
In a private and prestigious Catholic University
No time for fun, void of vacations, nor rest
Still gladly taken, with a sunny smile, no complaints

Miracles do happen in this world and it's true
As my humble life on earth had to show
Never lose hope, pray hard and always be true
To God, to others, to your work, and to the person that's you...

ALMOST

Adrift abandoned and lost
A man floating alone afar from coast
Body parched and baked
By the sun's scorching burning rays

Rescuers above passed him by
A tiny speck of sand, a faint muted cry
Down in despair he closed his eyes
'Almost' he said but that's just not enough

Leaning in a tree in a church backyard
An old battered poor woman carries a child
Disfigured, dirty, sick and tired
Their arms thrown out reaching for alms

Countless nameless faces gently walk
Passing these hapless creatures as they talk
Amidst silent sobs but full of hope
But no one even 'almost' dare to help or stop

Almost there, if this could have only been that
Anyone of us may have help a life
Almost, just isn't really enough
To save a life or to change a life...

And I'm just as guilty as the rest, at times, sad...

Just Simply Passing By

Floating silently in the sky are poems
Expressions of thoughts, one's own
Vivid descriptions, just quick summations
Life lived by a single solitary person

Jaded joys, happiness and awe
Wonderful question marks or so
Bathed in sadness, sullenness or two
Intertwined with words and by that color blue

Answers, stories, responses
Biting, loving or of nastiness
Timing to throw it is of the essence
To match what was there to deal with

But poems that pierce the heart
Should only be what we want
Like an odyssey in one's chart
Admired, remembered, for all times loved

Just what these lonely lines impart
"Farewell dear father, my sunshine, my love,
Why did you have to depart?"
"By this, you've broken my precious heart"...

Very melodramatic but I love it. Makes me smile :) But this is just only me...

Bright Smiles Come with Spring

It's official... spring is HERE, hurray! :) The scent, the sights and sounds of renewal, revival or renaissance, take your pick. For me it's the season to be smiling, laughs. Too long for me to wait to see my tulips again, can't wait. Spring cleaning, gardening and listening to the tons of birds I have in my backyard. That red colorful cardinal is my favorite. Oh well, really. It's the second time for me to be jolly, the first is Christmastime of course :) So, one more month, by the end of April, the sprouts of tiny leaves start to peek out of those trees. Then on the first week of May comes the bright and the colorful spring flowers that light up our neighborhoods, and my red bud tree is right out there on top :> So pretty and rainbow like. Tsk! If only that there could be a pot of gold that comes on every spring, then no more room for any pouts from non gardeners, unlike me...too bad. But for me the time to have that wide smile is...you've guessed it! Now. :>

That Extra Crucial Mile

Life is a series of winsome wonders
Being flashed in front of nowhere
Piles of accumulated pathways and trails
That this kind earth has to offer

Life also is an endless struggle
Of the good and of the devil
And it's up to you to decipher
Which path would you like to conquer

Sunny days, glorious days
Sunshine that will last forever
Or sad and moon less darkness
In agony, desperate and truly hopeless

Actions, relations and reactions
Smiles, laughter and pouts
Quarrels, makeups or breakups
What does one truly wants?

The good will want the wise
The bad, the devil will do otherwise
Just as that good Samaritan
The kindhearted will walk that extra mile

That extra leverage, that needed length
To touch a human's heart
That extra compassion and crucial walk
That opens its door to God...

"Miracle in Many Ways"...a favorite poem of mine :)

Have you ever prayed in private?
Wishing wishes late at night
Hoping dearly that God will touch you
In His mercy and graceful ways

Have you closed your eyes in earnest
Thinking some magic makes your day
With that extra love and goodness
Will be showered on you today?

I have dwelt in dread and dark despair
In much agony that is unreal
I have suffered uncalled for humiliation
You named it, it was on the air

But God in His rightful ways
I found courage to prevail
I've felt I am always loved instead
By that power sent by Him

If this is not a miracle tell me what it is then
For I could have folded like a wet umbrella
Not to be opened once again
Or I could have been an schizophrenic or mindfully insane...

In Tune with the Times

POLITICS is all in the horizon here and in the Phil. Come to think of it, it's my hidden interest, my secret love if you will. I follow every presidential debate here in the U.S., listen and tune in on programs that deal with this topic. For my philosophy is I'd like to be informed with what these politicians are up to, besides enriching their own pockets of course. They hold the key to policy making which directly or indirectly involves or affects my life, that's my reasoning. So I'm really very wide eyed and awake at this time of the year, laughs. Mitt Romney seems to be a very capable presidential beat here, but too bad for he is a Republican. So he is not the best person to look out for my interest, a working class, a middle class person. For these conservatives are just instruments of the rich, whose agendas are to become more like them, what else? the rich and the greedy. This after they woo you and your votes are taken. The difference here though compared to the Phil. is that most votes are counted here in the U.S. and votes can't be bought by money, which is the exact opposite in my country of birth. If a candidate even brainless have money, then he or she can be "smiling, and basking in sunshine" on the senate floor, or "in a hot house harmony" with the rest? of them there, laughs. Oh well, that is Phil. politics. Very very sad, indeed. And a myriad of intelligent, sarcastic "writers" mock this arena I observed with their tools of "metaphors" tons of it, here and there :> What a life...although I'm impartial. To those that I like I close my eyes, laughs. Oh well. And I'm not particularly fond of "weather" forecasting in the political turf to make that clear, alright? This is only me my take, and who cares? Only me, that's for sure, but this is my blog, so there you go, the REASON :> So please excuse me if you will, that is if you're truly offended. Don't mean to hurt your feelings now. Would you believe that? laughs.

Surprise! Actually Snow is Still Here

Tsk! I mispoke too soon. Lo and behold, the next morning... here is the view. Here in Michigan, March weather is very unpredictable. You're wearing your shorts the day before, next you know you're in your long john, laughs. Oh well. Can't wait for spring and summer to see my flowers again :>

Sense and Sentiments

Why do you care if I'm a maid
Making your bed everyday
As long as your sheets are all pluffy
And your floor is clean and spiffy

Why do you care if I am old
Bones rickety, fragile and cold
With face wrinkled and loose
Hand tremors and all

Why really care if I'm poor
With no roof and no food
Begging alms in those roads
Streets of filth and rats full

You must care for I'm God sent
To test your character and will
To show our only God up there
What you're made up inside "here"

"Here" means your inner heart
That red organ of true love
For if you treat me just right
God will smile wide and bright

Be thankful and be smart
Better not you but us?
But if we were 'you' it will happen that
You'll be kindly respected and loved...

In that Far Corner of the Earth

Tired, no more trembling hands
Flat, a non beating heart
Quiet under that cold earth
Alone lies a man not to ever forget

Deep silence sears the place
As a dove soars and reigns
Manicured grass over ground
Only a skull can be found

Is this all there is to it?
Of a life full of joy and zest
Too short, not enough
Taken abruptly in a flash

What is there to hope?
When someone bright is lost
No more laughter, no more smiles
No more sunshine no more stars

Tomorrow is just another day
As we humans work and play
Never the same, different always
Since my dad passed away...

Politics Philippine Style

How much money do you have?
How many movies did you make?
How much fame did you acquire?
This is Philippine politics

Throw away those computers
They're just in the way
Put some dough in those pockets
Of these gentlemen who run this gimmick

Then you'll be a governor
A congressman or a senator
Or worst you'll be the president
What a very sad predicament

My poor countrymen, what have we've done
Always and forever we'll be in the dumps
Why can't we learn from past mistakes
And give us all that much needed break?

With an eye trained to see
And an ear marked to hear
With a mind to decipher
What is true and what is real

Vote for the one that is bright and smart
Not for their fame nor financial cart
Write those names and cross your heart
And hope to God that no cheating will start...

Miracle in Many Ways

Have you ever prayed in private?
Wishing wishes late at night
Hoping dearly that God will touch you
In His mercy and graceful ways

Have you closed your eyes in earnest
Thinking some magic makes your day
With that extra love and goodness
Will be showered on you today?

I have dwelt in dread and dark despair
In much agony that is unreal
I have suffered uncalled for humiliation
You named it, it was on the air

But God in His rightful ways
I found courage to prevail
I've felt I am always loved instead
By that power sent by Him

If this is not a miracle tell me what it is then
For I could have folded like a wet umbrella
Not to be opened once again
Or I could have been an schizophrenic or mindfully insane...