A Poet's Notebook: Untitled

Buzzes and murmurs

amidsts lessons

in quartiles and deciles--

fractiles or quantiles.

Memories floating;

Imaginations trying

To swallow reality

And realizations.

Broken poetry escapes

The writer's lips.

A wounded heart

Healed by the writer's sword.

The poet has lived

In a surreal world,

In make-believe places,

In a phantasmagoric city.

He despises love

Although he believes

That love is surreal;

Love is make-believe.

He lives in irony.

His life is a paradox.

He escapes reality,

Yet shuns away fantasy.

Author's Note: 2008. I remember writing this poem in the middle of my Statistics class back in college.

A Poet's Notebook: When All Else Fail

When All Else Fail

When the column breaks

And the metal be devoured by rust,

When the termites finish off

the last piece of furniture

And the glass all shattered into fragments,

You remain with that tiny flicker.

Author's Note: Written in 2006 for my mom, and inspired by a tragedy in the family. It was published in the Crossroads, our literary publication in high school, of which I was a news writer.

How To Plan A Trip Overnight

By thegeekgoddess

Planning a trip even weeks before schedule can sometimes be a painful task, especially if you have no local guide nor idea about the place you are going to visit. However, if you know the ABC's of traveling and can google, planning a trip overnight can be a breeze. The key is to research, research, research.

Ivan and me taking a break from our 3-hour climb to Agogolo 

Aspiring backpackers that we are, my best friends and I have a knack for going on local trips at short notice without getting lost in an unknown place. Here's how we plan it overnight.

1. Look up general facts about the place.

With search engines like Google, and a number of travel blogs on the internet, this should be fairly easy to do, unless you are going to some very remote place. Look up your destination's climate, culture, language/dialect, accommodations, and tourist spots.  

2. Make a list. 

It is difficult to decide where to go next once you arrive at your destination. Do not think about the length of your trip or your budget at this point, yet. Just go ahead and list down all possible activities you can do, where to eat, and places that you can visit.

I Sometimes Forget I Was Once A Journalist

I used to be a campus journalist for our grade school and high school publications (The Green Beacon, and Crossroads, respectively). I was also, for a short time, a news writer for the USLS school publication, The Spectrum. When I look back to my campus journalist days, I see myself really enjoying every article I write, and dreaming of becoming a famous writer someday. From seventh to eleventh grade, all I ever wanted was to win in the writing conferences held every year.

I wrote several articles during my stint as a campus writer, but this editorial here is one of the most special. It was my entry for the Editorial Writing Category during the Division Schools Press Conference 2005. It won me my first ever FIRST PLACE in the DSPC. :)

Greater Than the Other?

Year 2005 will leave a great mark on the hearts of the Bacoleños. For one reason that the much-awaited SEA Games is set to be held in the Philippines with some of the events to be hosted by Bacolod.

With too much excitement, we have forgotten something very dear to our hearts as people of Bacolod. Have we realized that lesser preparations are being made for our Masskara Celebration this year? The attention of the people is more focused on the SEA Games, or so it seems.

Compared to previous years, fewer advertisements about the Masskara Celebration in October can be seen around Bacolod or even on our local television networks. Formerly, as September draws near, Bacolod already teems with posters and commercials about the Masskara. How come this year we do not see them yet?

Furthermore, the usual enthusiasm of the Bacoleños for our mardi gras is drowned by our ebullience for the SEA Games. A big number talk about volunteering for the SEA Games, but very few can be heard mentioning the Masskara at all.

To host the SEA Games, yes, is a once in a lifetime opportunity for our country, much more for our city, but it is not all that there is. It has affected our sense of patronizing what is really ours.

Lest we forget, the Masskara celebration proves to the whole world our flexibility as Bacoleños. It shows the rest of the nations how we can still smile amidst all the crises bombarded to us.

This is not the best time to forget our identity in exchange for even the greatest international event.

A Poet's Notebook: Jealousy

Jealousy

It pierces through.

Like a toxic needle
It annihilates me.

Anguish consumes
The organ of fire
Left in silent torture.

Grief confined in ventricles
Thriving to be pumped out
Only to fathom
the impossibility.

It pricks and it stings.
It kills before it heals.



Author's Note: I wrote this in 2006 when I was in love and jealousy almost took the best out of me.