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Only nothing is eternal.

For Each of You
Audre Lorde 


Be who you are and will be
learn to cherish
that boisterous Black Angel that drives you
up one day and down another
protecting the place where your power rises
running like hot blood
from the same source
as your pain.


When you are hungry
learn to eat
whatever sustains you
until morning
but do not be misled by details
simply because you live them.


Do not let you head deny
your hands
any memory of what passes through them
not your eyes
nor your heart
everything can be used
except what is wasteful
(you will need
to remember this when you are accused of destruction.)
Even when they are dangerous examine the heart of those machines you hate
before you discard them
and never mourn the lack of their power
lest you be condemned
to relive them.
If you do not learn to hate
you will never be lonely
enough
to love easily
nor will you always be brave
although it does not grow any easier


Do not pretend to convenient beliefs
even when they are righteous
you will never be able to defend your city
while shouting.


Remember whatever pain you bring back 
from your dreaming
but do not look for new gods
in the sea
nor in any part of a rainbow
Each time you love
love as deeply as if were
forever
only nothing is
eternal.


Speak proudly to your children
where ever you may find them
tell them
you are offspring of slaves
and your mother was
a princess
in darkness.


When you're groping in vagueness, a poem can be the hand that pulls you out of that blank. Or at least, re-draws the context for you, shows you the edges, reminds you what it should be about. Salamat for lending me your favorite poem, Joelle. =)

Now about heart ouchies

After giving my nephew some chocolates, I told him whatever he's had was enough because he has a toothache. He told me, "But I eat on the right side because my ouchie's on the left."

When did he become such an expert on handling ouchies? And what about ouchies of the heart? Curious what he'd say, I told him, Achie has an ouchie here (pointing to that area around the thoracic cavity), what should I do?

Enzo paused and then said, "Um... I know! You let him rest. And then you make him fat. And then, you make him wear eyeglasses."

Oh, wisdom from a 5-year-old. So, about those spectacles...

Hong Kong, part 2

Habang namamasyal sa paligid ng Ladies Market.

(While walking around the Ladies Market area.)  

Squid on skewers and other delectable-what-have-yous

Keep busking

States of being

Hong Kong, part 1

Salbabida, date, flowers, man in red

Watch out, baka ka malunod. Kumuha ng salbabida bago lumundag.
(Careful or you might drown. Grab a life buoy before taking the plunge.) 

You in red with a backpack, come into focus, won't you?

For the happy ever after girl

Most people are together just so they are not alone. But some people want magic. I think you are one of those people. 

- Jean-Paul Scarpitta, Broken English

"Even the angels knew that women always look back."

What Lot's Wife Would Have Said (If She Wasn't A Pillar of Salt) 
Karen Finneyfrock

Do you remember when we met

in Gomorrah? When you were still beardless,

and I would oil my hair in the lamp light before seeing

you, when we were young, and blushed with youth

like bruised fruit. Did we care then

what our neighbors did

in the dark?

When our first daughter was born

on the River Jordan, when our second

cracked her pink head from my body

like a promise, did we worry

what our friends might be

doing with their tongues?

What new crevices they found

to lick love into or strange flesh

to push pleasure from, when we

called them Sodomites then,

all we meant by it

was neighbor.

When the angels told us to run

from the city, I went with you,

but even the angels knew

that women always look back.

Let me describe for you, Lot,

what your city looked like burning

since you never turned around to see it.

Sulfur ran its sticky fingers over the skin

of our countrymen. It smelled like burning hair

and rancid eggs. I watched as our friends pulled

chunks of brimstone from their faces. Is any form

of loving this indecent?

Cover your eyes tight,

husband, until you see stars, convince

yourself you are looking at Heaven.

Because any man weak enough to hide his eyes while his neighbors

are punished for the way they love deserves a vengeful god.

I would say these things to you now, Lot,

but an ocean has dried itself on my tongue.

So instead I will stand here, while my body blows itself

grain by grain back over the Land of Canaan.

I will stand here

and I will watch you

run.

(via AninaFish)

A spring-tinged note

From "happy random thought," I think I'm now ready to transition to the idea* that lingers. 

Cherry blossom photo taken at a park in Gifu, Japan, 2008

(*Hopefully the kind that's wonderful.)

Sensible then silly, or both

"When in doubt, dance." *a series of hipthrusts* - Michael David

Was out in Cubao last night with Ina for some sisterhood tambay & catching up. As usual, there were so many conversations- from the funny to the tragic to the giddy to the simply sobering. Mike David and Carljoe, who were there for the Sputnik closing, joined us, adding their are-you-serious-but-oh-hey-that-makes-sense boy voices. That above remark should tell you the "wisdom" gleaned from those weird but welcome things spoken about. What an apt way to graduate from March and move on to April.

What April brought in: roles we wish to juggle

Hello, April!

Stumbled upon this series by Heidilender Photography called "She can leap tall buildings." I love the series name + merging of doodles and photography + the gaze of the ka-womenan portrayed. The obscured face and the exaggerated wig? By no means not new, but clever still and executed well. This project is just effin' beautiful (and cute, too). 

The gaze & the roles are perfect on those days I daydream about coming from the First World side of the equation and, hence, that it's possible to be a Sex and the City character or a frazzled but accomplished woman in the 70s trying to climb to the top, juggling it all (and now I realize how appropriate this entry is for April Fool's day :p).  

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