CLOUDS in the AFTERGLOW :

A bed of roses
may either be
a well of thorns
or
a basket of dreams
and
it all depends
on
you.

PIQUANT VERACITY

When you fall
in love with someone you've never met
my friend,
you'll never know
why your mind goes wandering,
with nowhere to go.

Love comes quickly
whatever you do.
You're dying to meet him,
but don't know what to do!

A feeling of emptiness
you just cannot bear,
but goodness, you're idle
when he's right there!

You shiver in fright
like a child,
but just a day away from him,
pulls you deep inside!

He's not a dream-come-true
but a real-come-dream.
He means so much to you.
At least, that is what it seems!

When he's not there,
you're blue.
When he is,
you're just not you!

One time you love him,
One time it's hate.
You gain confidence,
Then suddenly lose your gait.

When you feel like talking,
the words never get out.
You prod yourself to work
so as not to think and doubt.
Your mind is blank,
But thoughts mound.
You're caught in between...
--is he real?
I'd rather not find out!
_11/23/86

100 ISLANDS

Green fields, trees, and mountains,
fresh air, blue skies, flowers,
a path winding, narrowing,
leading to days of frolic and wonder.

Native motorboat with bamboo wings,
It slices the water,
it hums,
it sings!

Submerged in water,
entering a wholly new world,
Padina, red algae, Halimeda,
Hydroclathrus, corals, Padina!!!

What can compare
with watching the sun set--
Sitting barefoot by the shore,
Water tickling your toes...
Skies eagerly, regally flashing
shades of purple and crimson.
Its' beauty, its' splendor,
what more can one ask for?

Tears trickle down
joining salt water,
Not fully understanding
what really was the matter

Lying on the sand
not counting the hours!
Watching the stars
twinkling, falling,
yet wishing,
wishing it won't be over!

Standing by the shore,
Braving the cold,
Staring into the horizon,
Its deep unknown vastness,
Where the sea meets the sky,
Where thrive no lies,
Only sweet memories sail by.
_{March 16-17,1990}

SAND CASTLES IN THE SNOW

The coming unexpected,
The breeze so cold to bear,
Terribly hard it was indeed,
To ignore the cast spell.

The sand all scattered,
Specks in the eye,
Waves lashing on the shore,
Off to destroy a sweet song.

The child's on a slide,
On top yet below,
Like an innocent little child
building sand castles in the snow.

On the edge of the quay,
I still stand; the tide hasn't ebbed,
and with the speck in my eye...
the tide lingers on.
_--2/27/86

HEAVEN-SHATTERED SPLINTERS

Woe is the nightingale,
Shattered into a thousand pieces,
and the splinters all twinkle
like stars in the heavens.
Forever her song shall remain lingering
in the heart of the woods.
And in each note,
New hope.
For out there waiting,
is the nightingale,
Chirping alone.
_3/25/86

A TEDDY'S OWN AURORA

It seems as if,
or was it not
just days ago
when I took my Teddy in my arms
and bathed him with my tears.
No one was around,
only he knew my fears.
Sitting there and listening,
and wiggling his button nose.
He never accepted pennies
to say what he knows.

We used to walk at night
and stare at the mysterious moonlight.
I was awed by its glow
as it followed us wherever we'd go.

As I now take time to recline
on the rock Teddy and I used to share,
Childhood thoughts trickled down my cheek
then unto my fingers.

I glanced at the moon's aurora,
That same mysterious stare,
I stood,
and took a few steps,
Oh, Teddy, it still was there!
_-7/10/86

The twilight of a new moon.
A fresh delicate bloom.
The daybreak of a new morning.Dew drops and rose buds
and red berries,
ready for the picking. This day is your springtime,
the dawn of a new beginning!
_9/9/86

SWISS OPULENCE

through the glass door i see,
white water tumbling from a cloak of blue.
the earth pulls up a blanket of light,
evergreens now turn to white.
rooftops covered with cotton wool,
church bells continue on with their call.

far away, the matterhorn looks down majestic
at her village all a-frolic,
a tear of joy in her eye,
a breeze of doubt,
for only this day can she sing
as the flakes shimmer
in spring!
_{-April 10, 1986
Zermatt, Switzerland}

We had what many hoped for,
We built without a plan,
Did you think we'd have what we had,
before it all began?
Who knows when it all started?
Who knows what might have been?
Was is just circumstance
We had our chance?
_2/9/95

An Eagle as Sweet...

When an eagle becomes a nightingale
with a voice sweet as honey,
many wonder, "does he need money?"

When he parts with half his prey,
many often stay away.

And when the eagle becomes
what he was born to be,
the whole world hums to say,
"Change him, shall we?"

So, what is an eagle to do
when all the world says, "boo!"?

But to fly away to nowhere,
to an evergreen,
high above the mountaintops
-- his lair.

Where the sun sets
and the stars glimmer
Where he shall stay,
for there, he rules forever.
_4/3/86

I live a life of two,
One of a dream untold
and the other of which is my own.

Perhaps a thing of such
is a reason unclear to me.

Oh, why do I dream these
train of thoughts
knowing that deep drawn tunnel?

It may be a path I try to write
to escape to my own Utopia,
but that tunner halts me abrupt.

The only person one could be
is no one else but himself.
_{26 Avril 1986, Samedi, 11:06 du matin, Cannes, France}

Spring Sailing

spring sunny Sunday,
sitting by the shore,
sand in my 'spadrilles,
splish, splash, and more.
light wisps of wind
join in our frolic of fun,
our small ship's sailing,
kissing the breeze,
speed, sea, speed!
_{5/25/87 Seattle}

We were there
but never were.
Did they really know
more than us?
Or did we just pretend
to not know
ourselves?
Did we choose to be blind
to what was,
or was there not anything
to see?
Things cannot be both
and neither one,
But, which one was this?
May we be the first
to really be,
nothing more
than what we claim to be?
Then again,
we never claimed to be anything,
did we?
_8/30/93

SOUL MATE

Were we ever more than friends?
The only answer could be 'yes.'
Friendship transcended.
A state more noble yet undefined.
Not the level of hearts,
but of spirit and mind.
How can one know
where boundaries lie?
Lines were never drawn
but exist.
No secrets nor pretensions.
Pure and untainted,
for only souls touch.
_7/13/93

FATE

Your fate rests on what you choose,
Doors left ajar.
If by chance the one afar,
Options now run loose.
A decision made
leaves the door shut behind.
And if by chance you choose once more
to retrace steps you could find,
The choices would now differ,
The door may be there,
Its' key for you to claim,
But the road leading there,
Would never be the same.
_1/17/89

TIME

This.
One made from the other,
delicate, though so simple,
Yet, impregnable,
Even to the song of a thousand hearts.

Sand shimmering,
Slowly trickling,
Not blown in the wind.

Time.

If this were but an hour-glass,
Wouldn't it be grand
to turn it over
...even just once?
_3/15/88

Love is an old tune,
A sweet, sweet,
bittersweet melody.
Smitten.
Nostalgic.
Spring-rose beauty.
Then to awake
with but a deep haunting memory.

Said to have split,
Gone separate ways,
Divided in two,
But together still stands.

One on its' way,
One dream left unfulfilled,
Together upon a day,
Before the whole world.

A man nearly lost,
Success nearly crumbled,
Dream's realization,
Secretly done.

United, regression,
Fresh untarnished leisure,
Different all three,
One in command.
_1/9/86

Bored on a Plane

How serene the world seems from here!
Clean and blue,
Clouds like corals floating freely
as the sun sets at 7:30

The big rockets rumble,
The beacons a-flicker,
All is calm,
We're flying over Vietnam.

"In Between Days" is the song I hear,
A little to the rear
the jet did tilt,
for now we are to see
the land of silk!
_{4/5/86 on Air France flight 179 Singapore-Paris via Bangkok}

HOPE

Birds chirping from tree to tree,
Flowers all a bloom.
Butterflies flutter by,
Snails under mushrooms.

Rolling hills and prairie,
Country grass and pine,
Refreshing water from the brook,
All were made for thine.

Sacred well on the hill,
Mirror of thoughts and dreams.
Shadowed by the mist,
yet clear through moonbeams.

When you slip and fall,
and confusion takes its toll,
Toss into the well a cent,
Wish with thine eyes drawn.

Then,
'tis not the setting sun you'll see
But,
the fresh new rays of dawn!
_8/22/89

WHY CAN'T IT BE DONE?

Feb. 12, 1986, Wednesday, classes are still suspended

All around me,
People so involved,
Confused and concerned,
The innocent, killed.

I wonder why
this is going on.
Why can't it be done?
Is it so hard at all?

People all hungry,
Some for money,
Some for power,
Some fall into poverty.

Why can't it be done?
Why can't peace prevail?
People all so stubborn,
Doing anything just not to fail!

In times of crisis,
People show off their so-called riches,
While those who really own it,
Couldn't even buy fishes!

Why can't it be done?
Why can't peace prevail?
Why don't Filipinos join as one
and walk through unity's trail?

Thinking of no one but themselves,
People! Please awake!
Please do realize
It is OUR future that's at stake!

March 13, 1986, back in school

On February 25, 1986, the Dictator-President Marcos and his family fled the country. Mrs. Corazon Cojuanco Aquino, housewife and widow, was sworn in as President of the Republic of the Philippines. The people had won at last!

People power at its best,
Guarding soldiers day by day,
The nightmare is over
because crime does not pay.