a september to remember for always .. 9/11

this was when scenes which we have concocted only in our movie minds became horrible reality ..
this was when the lust for power and  allegiance for blind faith caused so much grief and so much suffering and so much hatred ..
this was when the best in men and the beast in men came to the fore,
(depending on which side you are on ...)

may i  repost this little poem i wrote during those times --

two towers, two faiths,
each one seeking dominance --
thus, innocents died.

much had happened since then and retributions have been made.  they say these had restored the balance of things. but, can we be truly sure?


again, this is a reminder from one of my favorite singers and poets ..

  

we are men. we are sentient beings. life is not just to be lived.  

life must be earned.  

life must be learned.

 

has cupid ran out of arrows?

on my way back home from work, a couple of days ago, on the bus ride, i managed to get a seat behind four people. three were female and the fourth was male. he obviously was gay.  to me he even appeared more girlish than the others. i guessed they were in their middle twenties. there were only a handful of us passengers on this early morning bus ride and although these young people were a bit rowdy and noisy, the rest of us did not mind. 

i knew they just came from a late night party since i can overhear them recalling the events of that time. at one point in their conversation the word "reunion" popped up and i surmised it was a reunion party they came from.  i could not force myself not to listen to them since they were conversing very loudly and animatedly.  i tried to close my eyes to grab some sleep but i can't. well, their talk was mostly about what had happened to them and their classmates after graduating from school.  i heard names mentioned of classmates who are now doing well and leading rich lives. of those who were fortunate to leave the country and was able to settle successfully in foreign lands. also, of those who were able to go abroad but unfortunately found worst.  i heard a name or two of those who died young.  the four of them, i heard they were all settled with nice-paying, steady jobs and they are satisfied with the way their lives are going, except for one thing --

all four of them had not found a steady partner!

alternately, i heard their summarized love stories.  all experienced great beginnings, then the relationships started to sputter and eventually fail.  all of four of them blamed their partners for the demise of love. most of the failed relationships pointed the reason to be that their partners did not manage to sustain the energy of the great starts.  they never blamed themselves.  well, i told myself silently, i am just hearing one side of the story.  it could be the other way around. of the four of them, it was the gay male that appeared more devastated.  he kept on sobbing at one point and one of girls hugged him. he might be coming from just a recent love breakdown again ...

they all got off the bus and i finally was able to grab a thirty-minute sleep before the bus reached my stop.

at home, i immediately rummaged through my poems cause i remembered something i wrote way back when i myself wondered if ever i shall find love ..

the poem went like so ---

heart knows when time is ripe for loving
for it shall pulsate with all its vibrant energies
it shall summon the kisses of butterflies on flowers
and sing the songs of countless love-starved bees;

it shall borrow the golden glow
of the moon and the stars at night
and seek to wear the sun's silver cloak
glistening, glittering, full-bright;

heart patiently awaits for cupid's arrow to pierce it straight
for time is now, its palpitations so dictate
it must be done, it must not be late,

before the songs die
before the night the lights slowly suffocate! 

at home i sat and thought. there is this other Love which the Masters and the Sages always enjoin us to rediscover.  this is the Love of the Creator for the created.  this is the Love that is all-enduring, all-encompassing, unending, unyielding, unconditional, unfettered, undiminishing. this is the Love that is not blind.  this is the Love that is True.  we already have this within us all.  it is just that in our pursuit of love in the level of this material plane of existence, we forgot.

we are in an ever changing world. on this earth plane everything is not constant.  we need to let Cupid pierce our hearts with his arrow of True Love.  for,

only True Love will remain.

water ... everywhere

well, it's been said somewhere that we are, technically, water people, because a bigger percentage of our physical constitution consists of the water element.  even at the onset, when we are inside our mother's womb, we are practically, enveloped in water.  so, we must be comfortable with this element.

and yet, just this early week of august, we here in this beautiful country of ours, the philippines, had been tested by this very element, water.  unceasing rain for more than 10 days.  the weather bureau noted that the volume of water that fell for the first 3 days were actually what  is supposed to fall for the entire month of august! 

during these early days of august, the skies were perennially grey and downcast.  that glorious light, the sun, remained hidden, or, in hiding..  so rain fell. and the land got saturated with the water element.  the drainage system for most places failed and so large areas got flooded. some were ankle-deep, some waist-deep, and some were so flooded that only the roofs of houses were visible.  a great many of us were inconvenienced.  well, this is another grim reminder from the Infinite.  Mother Nature can express herself in so many ways and we must always be prepared. 

many families from the affected areas were evacuated.  of course, everyone rallied to help these families. in our own small ways, we helped. contributing small sums of money, offering prayers to the gods, donating used clothes, etc., many volunteered for actual service, augmenting the personnel resources of big foundations which spearheaded the drive to help these stricken people.  in  these times of need, the philippines produced lots of supermen and aquamen.  superheroes all which do not need superpowers.  just that firm and sincere resolve to help the countrymen.  they do not need their names to be bandied about or splashed across newspapers. they are the silent ones.  a warm smile, a comforting handshake, or a tight hug, is all they need to be recompensed. 

after this, when the sun is brightly shining once more, i'd be expecting lots of finger-pointing again.  concerned public officials and organizations will be passing/putting the blame on anybody else.  why did the drainage system fail again?  how did the roads got inundated once more?  how did landslides happen again?  why did people who are  supposed to have been relocated away from danger areas still were found to be inhabiting these prohibited zones?

during the summer months, people were regaled by the seemingly unrelenting "improvement work" in almost every street, in almost every location.  and yet, when the waters came falling down, almost every "improvement work" was found wanting.  this early week of august proved this -- "improvement works" did not improve anything.  people who have been entrusted for these kind of work should learn well from the silent supermen and aquamen i mentioned above.  work should be sincere and honest and effective.

water is a difficult element to master. we are part water.  our tears are water. 

our tears must not add to the water we now see, everywhere ...