as night nears by the blue mosque

as night nears by the blue mosque
i hear what seems
like chanting to my ears
or singing
or praying
that only the heavens could
understandingly hear

as night nears
i see myself
invited to converge
with the chanting
and singing
and praying

to the heavens above the blue mosque
i find myself raised
and bathed in red.

ifugao

when the dogs eat you alive

i was told
no matter how much you believe in the nobility of what you do
never put your whole heart, your whole soul
lest you get burned
and end that the passion and energy you invested
get sucked
and lost
in one big black hole

i never wanted to believe
until it saw me through

(and told another time
when the world does not wish to invest in its member
but seeks to entertain another
it's better to get away
before your passion and energy you invested
end up sucked
and lost
in one big black hole)

that is
when the dogs you work for try to eat you alive

from rubbles to a giant spider

part of the house has been in rubbles for almost a week.





from the rubbles, out came a giant spider that surfed through the room and silently disappeared.





now back to the work i am finishing.

from pakse to vientiane: saravane/khammouane roads

from the first point i made my first step, the dust swamped the humid air.


















i was told, take the short road to comfort,








but life said, long roads may take men and women nowhere and anywhere,






lost and beaten, tired and weighed, long roads take you to me






and the comfort of knowing you have me.

i lost sleep

i lost sleep five times today
and three times last night.
i could have but i did not
and she has traveled almost
three or five hours away.

i rushed to catch her at twelve
but caught myself doing something else.
i tried again at one and came two
and by four but, she slipped past me
not thrice or four but five times more.

i lost sleep just now a sixth time
since i am still a-----writing,
hopeful, in the last three or four
or even five words more ~
before
sleep
tries
running







again.

locusts and hoppers

lotus

e-tu

one has to die to see the way the fog clears.
























but once in a while we have to live again to realize the fog has cleared.

one road less near the sea

i set on a journey to see the world.
a world where air meets earth,
fire meets water,
man sees man,
rocks face trees,
and fish walks light,
woman finds life,
hair falls down,
where steam embarks
and mud spores.
i set and find a road -
parts and departs
the sea from high ground,
the peak from weathered skies,
it points and it swerves
towards another
less journey near
to see.








*on the photos: coastal road from tagbilaran to anda in bohol province, taken in july 2008

drop

a leaf waiting to drop...

he wondered,why fall when it could glide
and with the wind,
to fly?

filler 2

basketball and mangroves. we find hard for the commons.