Why Doesn’t Gray Appear in the Kaleidoscope?

Fiction by | April 13, 2008

Sunrise, this lone miracle by which night is transformed into day; a perpetual incarnation of beauty to a city that they think has stepped out from the pages of a fairy story.

Far from what seemed remote a land was a castle of cold shacks where two boys, dull and gray, awoke to the realm of men’s coats and women’s dresses moving in throngs. These spectacle of colors they never tire of seeing, yet sorely wish at harmonizing.

Across the castle was the Land the boys call Fairy in which they see people go as they break from the moving throng and then come back, still in harmony amidst the hubbub of such beauty. In their heads were the different wonders, marvels, and miracles dragged from the cupboards of the Fairy and certainly kept for these people, them so full of color.

Continue reading Why Doesn’t Gray Appear in the Kaleidoscope?

Alone

Poetry by | April 13, 2008

A happy childhood, I had one
Once…
But now, finding myself alone,
is like reality slapping me on the face,
painfully… mercilessly…   agonizingly slow… deadly…
Yet I’m alive,
Yes, I’m alive
not because I’m fortunate,
not because I’m given another chance
But because…
it would be unfair for the world
to see me get away with it
while others cannot
I have to feel the pain
I have to bear the hurt
I have to cry
I have to die…
Then live again,
For what? For whom?
I’m alone….

Fragile

Poetry by | April 13, 2008

shattered once
  died twice
the world is founded
  on naught but lies…
broken vows
  broken dreams
a life not fair
  and full of schemes…
 
walking without knowing
giving without taking
trusting and believing,
loving…. then … dying…

Allamandas in the Morning

Nonfiction by | March 30, 2008

The terse ringing of the phone, followed by the apologetic voice of the nurse at the other end, nudged me to a befuddled wakefulness. I found myself grousing under my breath to some muted annoyance, knowing that the plans of the day have been brusquely thwarted by an all-too familiar event.

What I had mapped out as an easy, sunshiny, warm-as-a-pillow day turned into a mad rush to the hospital to join a grieving family at a matriarch’s deathbed. In a few minutes I was navigating through the swelling crowd of the hospital lobby. At the female ward, I stood witness to the tableau of a grief-stricken spouse feigning a valiant façade in the presence of the similarly devastated family members.

Continue reading Allamandas in the Morning

Prosti & Snoman

Poetry by | March 30, 2008

In Boracay it’s Christmas
all year round, or at least
it’s always in anticipation
of some windfall from a white
fat guy, bearer of gifts: dresses,
perfume, jewelry, dinner, cash –
hopefully tagged with a clause
to marry in the future. For now
she needs to be naughty and nice,
play with him in the water,
be like the sea and lap him up;
he’ll have to buy her a halo-halo
to cool the hot elf down –
tearing open the presents for later.
For now he wants to stroll up
and down this wintry wonderland
(or at least she wonders if his snow
is any finer than her white sand);
she clings to the elbow of this man-tree,
the top of which she’d like to crown
with a star – later when he goes down.
For now she strains her legs to keep up
with him, walking on tiptoe to keep
her stilettos from sinking in the sand.

Naked Beauty

Poetry by | March 30, 2008

For Samal Island

The beach was a naked beauty
until brusque men from afar
heard of her and came:
one, two, all came,
deflowered her pristine waters –
she a frail captive of
the artichoke of their wanderlust.
A haven turned into a harem,
they forced her,
a virgin handmaid, to dance
the song of the wind.

Continue reading Naked Beauty

The Heart of Davao City

Nonfiction by | March 23, 2008

For someone who has never been inside Bankerohan, the place is the worst idea of a tourist spot. People who do not visit the far dark corners of it would even wonder why it had been made a destination. Others question why a wet market is constructed beside a dental clinic and other establishments that offer a comfortable place and clean services. The stink which makes passers-by cover their noses when the jeepney drives through; the dirt which can be seen in every vendor’s clothes, stall, sack, cart, and anywhere along the sidewalk; the chatter of the people which is nearly unbearable – are the main reasons that some people prefer to go to air-conditioned supermarkets. Furthermore, the rows of stalls are not organized. Some vendors simply pile their fruits and vegetables on a dirty sack along the sidewalk, and some even go beyond the boundary line, making traffic worse.

Continue reading The Heart of Davao City