s.h.y. at 45!

Unexpected notes of concern and care from people you rarely meet are indeed very heartwarming-- much more so a piece of work that they exclusively dedicate to you.

Marco, a teacher, composed the following tanka-like poem which he dedicated to me (the "I"):

45 times
I have circled the sun
I keep the ship afloat
With the buoyancy
Of my soul.

Many thanks to you, Marco!

The poem contrasts quite sharply with this haiku that I have written:

summer is gone...
forty-five summers
gone so quickly!

At 45, I'm really very s.h.y. (Single, Happy and Young!) Looking at a half-filled cup, I also feel excited, optimistic and grateful for the other half that is empty.

Remembering Saint Francis

Saint Francis of Assisi, a lover of peace and nature, is one of my favorite Catholic saints. His famous prayer "Lord Make Me a Channel of Your Peace" is one of the prayers and hymns I learned in my childhood. During an overnight stay in Little Flower Convent in cool, pine-scented mountain city of Baguio, for a meeting with local peace advocates in July this year, I wrote the following senryu:

in the convent hallway
waiting, a guest
stares at St. Francis

Up to now, I still wonder (though I never bothered to ask) why Franciscan priests, in this twenty-first century, still dress exactly as St. Francis of the Middle Ages was dressed: in brown attire that, from a distance, looks like sackloth; and those sandals!

Anyway, there's this well-known story of St. Francis, when, in proving his love for God even to the point of losing everything he owns, took off his robe and stood naked before a crowd. A teacher from St. Francis College of Negros Oriental, one of the islands in the middle part of the Philippines, narrated to me that story...with a twist. According to him, St. Clare, a nun so close to St. Francis,was among the crowd who saw it all. And, seeing everything and all in their naked truth, she exclaimed:"Oh, my God! How biigggg!...how big is your faith!"

Oh,wow! would you believe it? Right after I wrote the word 'faith', I received this text message from a peace partner in Kalinga, a province up north, home of the indigenous peoples called Kalingas:

A little faith says: 'God may do it.'
A bigger faith says: 'God can do it.'
But a deep faith says: 'Whatever happens, God does what is best.'

What a coincidence-- or is it?

Indigenous Peoples and Children

October is a month especially dedicated to two groups of human beings that make our world a beautiful and happly place to live in: the indigenous peoples (IPs), mostly living in the "last frontiers", and the children-- both of which, sadly, are already endangered species.

Tanya, an IP lady working in our office, sent me this very inspiring message, a short poem, in celebration of the Indigenous Peoples Month:

From the mountains comes my strength,
from the pine breeze my life,
from the rivers my peace,
and from the skies my ancestors'wisdom.
I'm an indigenous person
and proud to be one.
Happy Indigenous Peoples Month.
May we uphold the richness of our culture
and the legacies of our heritage.

Regarding children, I have a previous blog where I placed the lyrics of the Bless the Beast and the Children song by the Carpenters. But let me add two haiku I wrote on separate occasion about my cute two-year-old grandson:

my sleep cut short
my grandson in front of me
takes it away

my two-year-old grandson
his face glows
before the laptop screen