FT Chronicle

I am just so overwhelmed with gratitude I don’t know where to start.

First, I would like to thank God for everything He has given me, for everything He has done to me. I thank You for all the blessings. Thank You for the protection against harm. Thank You for your undying love. If only I were a musician, I will write You songs and I will sing praises to Your Glory. If only I were a painter or a sculptor, I will create a masterpiece to show You how I will depict Your incomparable love to all of us. If only I am… if only I am… But You made me a writer and being so, I will let You take this pen over me and let Your Word shine upon us. Let my words be words of enlightenment to the benighted, be words of encouragement to the dispirited, be words of inspiration to the weary. Let my words touch the hearts of my reader. Let my words be an instrument for the world to know You. And every time I will write about You and Your Word I will say, these are not my words but these are Your Word.

I would like to thank all the readers here in FTChronicle who gave a part of their time just to read anything I have written. Now, my heart is bursting with joy by reading all your feedback and comments. Honestly, I am unaware of what my writings can do. I am clueless that they will mean something important to someone and it really did not cross in my mind at all. I am so happy that in such a way, I unwittingly help others, give them hope, and provide them inspiration. Those simple messages, whether short or long, makes me feel motivated. It urges me to tap the buttons of my keyboard; it fuels me to scribe letters down my paper. And it seems like I’m unstoppable, nothing can stop me now.

Now I show you the face of your humble writer and by posting my picture, I want you to know who’s behind those letters. I would be glad if you find me exactly what you have known me through my thoughts. I really don’t know that I have this writing prowess and all of you tell me I do have it. But I know I have nothing to boast, I only have something to thank for. I will never let you down and I’ll keep on posting new articles.

Lastly, to you, if ever you are reading this post. You are the joy of my heart. You are that very one who brings smile to my face, the one who gives me mornings. You almost have made me surprised like I’ve won a prize and there are things I need to prioritize. But you just walked in that door and I could not ask for more, I found myself loving your ways. Oh, I thank the Lord above for making you find your way here. Gratefully, I will ever be.

Another day has come, and I’m thankful for it ^^

Serene is her face that could pacify a raging sea
Heavenly she is, an exquisite view to see

Art has created a masterpiece to last forever
Magnificent she is, and fade she will never

A sunrise brings a new morning every time she smiles
Needless to say, I will travel a thousand miles
Enough distance I will take for our roads to coincide
Savoring each moment that I’ll be by your side

And there I was, could not help myself but to take a glance
No beauty can ever surpass her elegance
Captivating charm that shines even in my darkest
Let the stars in the sky burn their brightest

Angel, you are unmistakably sent from up above
Rain my heart with showers of your caressing love
In your eyes I see the allurement I cannot resist

Ardent affection of mine will truly persist

Here I start a new poem

Without any rhyme, without any form

And my pen starts to unwind

The words that I’m about to inscribe

All the things I need to pen down

As the wind tries to whisper something

It urges me to write in an early morning

As nature continue to sing its solemn hymn

The rain don’t stop falling

As it angrily pounds the house roof

And this makes me ponder on a thing or two

Every time I see the raindrops fall

I call to you, o Magnificent Rain

Who seems to drench me in cold

Whenever I felt that I’ll be happy

You always make me feel desolate

Rain, when I am fuming and mad

I hear your thunder and see those flashes

It’s so deafening I hear it aloud

It’s so blinding I see it clear

Rain, don’t you even know that?

I’ve been befallen under your spell

The sight of you is music to my eyes

That lasts in my mind for a long time

Rain, for a time I’ve been longing

To feel the cool breeze of the wind

I wish you can embrace me in such ways

Alas, I’m just a fool waiting for that day

Rain, I sing to you songs and write letters

But you never gave me a chance

To show you how deep is my adoration

To show you how true are my intentions

Rain, even though you throw me storms

I have the fortitude to bear it all

Just continue on cleansing my face

Because you doing it perfectly

Rain, it is just you that I need now

And not the rainbow that everyone’s expecting

What if I tell you I’m still in love with you?

Will it even matter to you?

Love. Time. Priorities. The story continues on where we last left the two bugs talking about love in a Paradise at the city’s heart. We now know the tale of the ant who loved a butterfly. We know that some questions do not need some answers. The ant continues to muse at the vast sky. But the blue curtains suddenly turned into gray and the butterflies flew away. Nature has played its mournful song and the rain seems to be its tears.

“Hurry! Let’s move to the high ground” the ant suggested to the mosquito.

“No, I have a better idea” The mosquito held the ant with his hands and flew to the tree’s branches. Both watched the innumerable droplets shower.

“You? How about you?” the ant breaks the dead air.

“Huh? What about me?”

“Have you had your own story?”

“Oh… my story? You see it’s… hehe…”

“C’mon, it’s unfair. You knew mine so maybe it is just right to tell yours. Blurt it out, I will listen.”

“I also loved a girl, a mosquito of course… no… I mean I still love her… somehow, I found my strength to tell her how I feel for her.”

The mosquito’s face became more serious.

“Oh… now, what’s with the long face?”

“It’s the proboscis, man…” The mosquito feigned a smile while later redoubled into a sullen mope. He took a deep sigh and then continued on talking. “You know, I’m the man who takes risks. I am not the person who will undertake things only if he is sure that they will turn out as he desires.

He paused for a while. He closed his eyes to feel the breeze of the wind.

“Maybe it is not good to expect for something in return but I unconsciously find myself hoping.  I know I made some efforts though I may admit they are not impressive. It is just so hard to read her mind and I’m not a mind reader. I just don’t know…”

“Uhm..”

“You know, female mosquitoes are above us males. They have more responsibilities than we do. That is the status quo and I cannot do something about it. And I don’t want to get on her way. I don’t want to derange her plans. I don’t want to be the one who will drag her down. I just can’t help it… all she have to do is to tell me. I gladly will listen… I have a feeling that I know what she will tell me. I feel afraid but I must not. But I’m ready. I made myself ready.”

“So, it means you’re letting her go?”

“No. Not yet. I’m still holding onto something. But if it’s for the sake of the both of us…” The mosquito took another deep breath then he continues. “Sacrifices have to be made when we have to follow our hearts’ deepest desires. And I love her…”

The ant was so amazed by what the mosquito have told him. He found it amazing to see how a lively mosquito he had met a while ago is now a mosquito trying to feign a smile on his face. By the time they finished their talk, the sky has stopped crying. But the mosquito had his hard time trying to contain his tears.

Love. Time. Patience. There’s a park named Paradise set in the heart of the city. The sun is up after minutes of light rain. The flowers boast their colorful petals while the butterflies keep on circling around them. Yes, there are still butterflies that roam the busy streets and in the almost polluted air. Butterflies of modest colors…. Butterflies of elegance…

Then there’s an ant who watches distantly. He keeps on sighing and holding his breath upon seeing the picture he always want to view. He looks so keenly with eyes shining like the Polaris at night. The silence is too loud and the moment is still until a mosquito interrupted that solemn instant.

“Yo, wazzup?”

“Huh? Nothing.”, the only answer the ant gave. Then silence took place. He turn his head up again looking at the sky. The mosquito followed the ant’s eyes direction and found out the reason behind the ant’s current frame of mind. His eyes were set to a fine-looking butterfly, to be precise.

“Oh, I see. You like her?”

“Like? No… I love her… There’s more than that…”

“Oh, cmon. Tell it to her. Pursue that yearning!”

“I did. I already have. But it can’t be.”

“You don’t need to be a sucker for love! Get it? Sucker? Sucker? Hehe-“

The mosquito paused upon seeing the ant looks so serious. The ant sighed and nodded his head. Then, he looked up into the sky again, breathing so deep.

“Look! Take a look at her. Look at her wings. Look at how high she fly. Look at her colors. Ain’t she pretty? She’s great. But look at me, I’m just an ant. I don’t have colors, I don’t have wings. I’m just this, I have nothing to boast.”

“So, what are your plans?”

“Plans? I do not have any. I’m already contended on this way. I think it’s enough to see her smile every day, to hear her sweet voice. It’s just enough that I love her with all my heart. Do I need to do something? What? Will I court her? I don’t think so… it is just enough that I love her and I’m not expecting for anything from her.”

The mosquito put his hand to his head.

“But how will she fall for you if you don’t do something?”

“That is… the question which I don’t know the answer…”

ONE GENIE

Helpless I am,

Anticipating for every dreams

Juvenile is your beauty

Immaculate from the heavens

Without a glimpse of your face

Oh, I cannot live a day

Nothing more, I can say

You have the Oriental beauty

I cannot resist, I am your slave

Whenever I gaze at you

I feel an outburst of the utmost bliss

It’s enigmatic, I feel this way

It’s unusual; I’ve never been like this

Infatuated, am I strayed?

Am I in love? I  know it’s true

You are a flickering star

I’m just the moon watching you near

You are the mighty Sun

I’m just the sky overflowing by your radiance

We are worlds apart I think

How I wish that someday, somehow

Our roads will meet by luck

And I’ll be happy by your side

You make me smile without any reason and it feels like I can be through any season. Aching to see you smile, to hear you laugh, I can see true happiness at last. But whenever I see those tears, it makes me break down and cry. Just hold me near and feel my heart beat. This unconditional love is what keeps my heart beating. My days are so complete because of you. Just keep on doing what you do while I try to keep my sanity. I’ll never get enough that’s why I always have to have you here. I am waiting for that perfect timing to say to you I love you. But it seems my heart has its own plans and cannot wait for any longer.

But what can I promise you to give if promises are meant to be broken? What can I offer you to live if the life I have is all that’s been forsaken? I can give you bouquets of roses but we know that flowers will only wither. I can write a myriad of poems and sing a flock of songs but words are just empty and cold.

I know loving someone can bring you harm but I know it’s my purpose to make you feel so loved. I may not be the man you’ve always dreamed of neither be the greatest writer of love letters. Here I am, a simple guy who’s in love with you.

Just a couple of months right now, I’ve checked some of the papers in the cabinet out of curiosity. I, looking for something to do that rainy morning, hoped that I would find something about my childhood memoirs. Instead, I found this old notebook, an organizer, and as I read each page, I realized that it was my mom’s. it served as her diary and as I continue, I discovered my mother as a lively woman of her age. I have gone to the pages where her close friends are listed accompanied by a faded photograph of them smiling, the part where she told her stories of love and also of failure. I found myself creating a whole new figure out of the one I thought that I know about her.

I am never been close to my father, I never was. I am like more comfortable with her. My mother, Christina, whoever may have say, is the best mother that I would ever have in the whole world. She is loving, understanding, patient, what more can you say about mothers? She left her job the moment she gave life to me to commit herself into a more important duty: to be a committed mother. She nurtured us when we’re little, she endured those days making sure that we learned every lesson of life. I am not what I am now without her being my lamp.

I remember the times when she tells anecdotes of the days we were younger. How I see her eyes twinkle and her face becomes more radiant every time she reminisces those days. I can’t help myself but to listen and be amused.

I remember the times when she is joyful whenever I bring home accomplishments and awards. She appreciates very much giving her rewards for those years she up brought us. She is the reason why I keep myself on pushing what I’ve got. Every medal and certificate I bag are always for her.

I remember the times when she gives us advice or the sermons every parent will utter. I regret those times that I am ignorant and immature. I am foolish to shout at her and do not realize that I’m actually hurting her.

I broke into tears, letting it down onto my face when I crossed at the page that marked November 6, 1989. I sought myself for a ball point pen and wrote down: “Two years from now, I will be born. Thanks to you, I love always. I’m sorry for everything I’ve done wrong. I love you Mama, I’ll always do.”

I remember one day, her body broke down and she needs to be admitted to a hospital.  My mom is our all-around manager of the house. She’s the one who budgets the money wisely, who takes care of our things, and who gives us tender-loving caress. You know, it may not be what we call an accomplishment but, hey, living a life having someone there to bother your stuff makes my days hard without her. But, interestingly, I live through all of that days and nights all by myself.

I learned to rise early at the morning without someone to wake me up.

I learned to separate colored shirts from the white ones before doing laundry on them.

I learned to turn off the iron the moment I’ll be already done ironing the clothes.

I learned to rinse the dishes twice so that there is no soap left intact.

I learned to measure the water level using my index finger before cooking the rice.

But I never learned anything at all.

I don’t know why my mom keeps on smiling.

I don’t know why my mom never seems to look tired.

I don’t know why my mom knows almost everything.

Until that one intimate mother-son conversation, I remember her saying, “Do you know why I am not complaining? Do you know why I am the one who takes of your clothes, of your food, of everything you are? It does not matter whether it’s tiresome or not. It is the least I can do for you being your mother. It is because I love you.”

I broke down in tears. And there, I said to myself that I will study hard, that is the least I can do for her. I replied to her, “Don’t you worry, mom. All your sacrifices will bear fruits. I won’t let you down.” it is because I love her.

I wish I could have given her more than just plain appreciation. My love for her as a son is not enough compared to her love for the three of us. Now, I live the days to pay back to her not as a sign of gratitude but as a sign of an everlasting love. I don’t want to be a burden to her but be a man she wants me to be and the one she will be proud of.

I learned to pray a lot more.

I learned that I need to live a week without my mom to realize that she will never be there for us for always.

I learned to love her even more.

-Mothers’ Day falls on the month of May, coincidentally; her birthday falls on the same month. Mama, happy Mothers’ Day and Happy Birthday to you. Happy Mothers’ day to all mothers around the Globe!

There I was sitting in a stone, only contended of watching her flicker in light.  I’m in awe because of her unparalleled elegance where every moment makes me need her more than o ever had. I never knew that the day I thought would never come will mark its date in the calendar. There’s a battle between my heart and my mind and my heart was declared the victor. I can’t believe that there will be a sequel to my solitary love story.

This love is like an indelible ink which stained in my heart as opposed to the ephemeral butterflies in my chest. Sometimes I find myself in reverie, insinuated to hold your hands and to feel your embrace. Now you know all of the things I have inside, all the songs that I have sung and all of the poems I have written.

I can’t believe that I can go along with you home every time the darkness bites. My nights were supposed to be starless nights without the moon with the good old man singing in tune of melancholy. But your radiant glow overtook the light any star can burn.

Your impeccable beauty is the fairest among them all. Your smile brightens my day and pacifies my worries and anxiety. Beatific you are, oh, blessed maiden. Heed to my song of the nightingales. Your infallible gestures exemplify the demure woman of all ages. Your ethereal charm never withers but never fails to enfeeble me, a thing I cannot elude.

Your fragrant scent rivals the spring’s flowers. Your sweet voice is like harmony from the birds. Your crystal eyes shine like pearl. You have that enchanting and provocative smile that revealed very beautiful teeth. You also have that fair face with seductive and attractive eyes. And your lips, oh, they are as tender as the budding flower. I see the dawn in the East with beauty endowed.

Every time you pass me by, heaven makes a beautiful view. I found ways of you quite irresistible which my heart grows fonder for. And there I was, singing at the top of my lungs saying all I have kept for years. All of these words flew from my mouth making myself be astonished for what I have done. Centuries I’ve been waiting for that right moment, and that moment finally came.

I once found her walking in the garden of Eden. She’s a delicate handiwork, an angel certainly! She’s on top of every splendor I see. Her smile is engaging; her face is serene. She seems to emanate an air of tranquility; she possesses an ethereal ambiance. She’s sculpted with grace, a masterpiece of the Golden Era. Whatever may come or whatever may happen, she will always be my divinity in my eternal Earth.

Define love.

Love is blind. Love is stupid. Love hurts. Love is all that matters, faithful and forever…

These are the popular answers that fill up the top question in slumbooks.

What is love?

People keep on saying they do not want to love anymore. They are afraid to be hurt again, to be broken-hearted. They do not want to be sad, to be lonely. They do not want to have mixed emotions, to have scars. Among the given reasons, there is a long list of innumerable responses one will comply to the question, “Why don’t you love again?”

That’s all that they know. But they do not know anything about love. They do not understand what love really means.

Love. It is one of the greatest, if not the greatest, things in this world of chaos and uncertainty. It is not love that gives wound or the one that makes misery. Love is pure and clear though these words are synonymous. Love does not bring confusion. Love does not destroy you instead it makes you a better person.

It is ironic that many hate love. If you do not want to love anymore, then you do not really know what love is. It is so unfair that we blame anything to love. We, people, are the ones who stain it, who give love a bad name. love is the music of life, it is a God-given gift. To truly love is to understand it.

What is love?

To perfectly answer the question, I would like to quote Helen Steiner Rice’s poem “The Magic of Love”

Love is like magic
And it always will be.
For love still remains
Life’s sweet mystery!!
Love works in ways
That are wondrous and strange
And there’s nothing in life
That love cannot change!!
Love can transform
The most commonplace
Into beauty and splendor
And sweetness and grace.
Love is unselfish,
Understanding and kind,
For it sees with its heart
And not with its mind!!
Love is the answer
That everyone seeks…
Love is the language,
That every heart speaks.
Love can’t be bought,
It is priceless and free,
Love, like pure magic,
Is life’s sweet mystery!!

Other than this, it is not love you are feeling right now.