Mitsuru

It will be just hours before New Year’s Day in the Philippines and Filipinos will literally welcome 2007 with a big big Bang ! Yes, we are a riotous lot and very loud revelers at that; just drive by or walk around in every nook and cranny in the 7,107 islands be it low tide or high tide when the clock strikes at midnight and you will know what I mean-- From the loud, energetic dancing in the streets to the boisterous drinking sessions like there is no tomorrow to the never-ending explosions in the air and smoke-filled surroundings, we’re one hell of a nation that really knows how to party come hell or high water. And many of our countrymen will pay the heavy price literally and figuratively in terms of money and limb for we really are a stubborn people and inherent in each one of us is his/ her own set of beliefs/ views on things that would put Rizal’s Filosofong Tasyo to shame and the most glaring one in our character is that we don’t want to be told, period. So, the usual

Three poems on Christmas, that is. Written on three different occasions that show my moods at a certain time. It’s nothing special though, just some inane scribbles on my notepad while trying to pass the time. Anyway, read ’em and weep... It's midnight and here I am once again tapping on the computer keyboard Trying my best not to fall asleep as I try to write my piece. It’s been going on like this since I started this pointless exercise one quiet and cold evening a month ago today-- I am still here at the crossroads unable to take the necessary steps to move on and get on with it. I wonder if how many people in this place are still awake at this very moment? I can now hear the noise of the people next door; the hurried footsteps, the gaily laughs and inaudible chatters The rush of people passing by at my doorsteps. I wonder why they’re also up and about at this very unholy hour? At a distance, I heard the Church Bells ringing. It was only then that I re

Christmas Eve unlike last year there is no snow yet but the wind chill is quiet cold-- Numbing your skin tearing into your bones freezing your emotions… In the dead of night I am awake-- lying in my bedroom staring into the gloom with nothing else to do But I like the quiet; the stillness of the place the serenity of the moment. For I am at peace with myself when I am alone in total darkness.

I was about to punch in to start my day at the Emergency Room of Henry Ford Wyandotte Hospital in Michigan when my cell phone buzzed. I could feel the heat of my blood rushing under my skin when I heard what the person on the other line have to say. It took me a moment or two before I summoned the courage to ask the Clinical Coordinator for the day to allow me to go home and check the news online myself-- And there it was on the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Philippines Star, ABS- CBNNews and other news websites the grim reality and horrific pictures of the devastation brought by the super typhoon Reming (International codename: Durian) to Albay Province and Legaspi City , places that I am very familiar with and known like the palms of my hands. I scanned the pages and my eyes caught the heart-rending, gut-wrenching stories of tragedy and despair of the people; my people, of whom I am very much familiar with their way of life and customs but you could only take a deep breath to relieve t