ketsana's fury in photos...

uncertain steps...you'll never
know what's ahead...

holding on to dear life...




all that's left of my things...

cars afloat in front of a university building...



manggahan floodway had to be destroyed
to give way to enormous volume
of rainwater...


stranded in the airport...





the aftermath...trash and broken fences


...he probably didn't get home on time...

...how did that car get there?...





uh oh...no, they're not matchbox cars...
and no one's playing...they're for real...


in a relief center...cell phones are charging..
how much of their lives will be "re-charged"?





oh no, not even a big, beautiful house
was spared...



saving lives on a rubber boat...




they used a banca to save what's left
of possessions...

"salamat kuya!" (thank you my big brother!)...





saturday is a working day for
some of us. september 26,2009 will
never be forgotten..all were
rushing home...(see the traffic
farther down? some reached home
the next day)


holding on to each other amidst
the typhoon's wrath...



even expensive cars were not spared...



these trash came from everywhere brought by the floods...a backlash
because of humans' indifference to nature...





eroded earth...mud, silt and sand...
where do we start? where do we go from here?


this boy, collects from what's left...
mud, plastic bags, trash...




the nameless...faceless...may she
rest in the peace of God...

i light a candle...for the dead who hope to rest in peace...
and for the living who continue to hope for
a new beginning...

thank you for visiting this blog. please offer 5 minutes of silence in your workplace...homes...wherever you are for us here and send your positive thoughts,
prayers, energy...we need you now...

here is a flower for you in return...peace...may peace reign in our hearts...

(thanks very much to the heroes behind the lens for these photos...)

weena...

i mourn for nature and humanity...

i can't post any pictures today. i can't write poetry. i can't wait for inspiration. i grieve for events past, devastating, destructive. life seems to have stopped. where do i start? what can i say? the rains fell, and fell and fell and for nine hours, poured in 420 mm of rainfall, normally the amount of rain for two months. it's all rain, just rain. and the rivers rose, and they rose and rose and it seemed like it never stopped rising. and the most terrible thing happened.

the river currents did not choose where to go. it just went and went and went. passed houses, trees, people, gas stations, malls, playgrounds, parks, supermarkets, hospitals, churches, city halls, government offices, schools...and i cried for the little houses, with the little people...carried away by the currents. and away and away and away it went with the mothers and children, the old folks, the fathers, the pets, the movie stars and government officials, basketball players, call center agents... were held tight by the strong arms of the river currents...and their senses were carried away. and our senses too were carried away...what do we do? as we watched and watched and watched as all vanished from our sight...

the Marikina Valley and nearby cities, Pasig, Cainta and San Mateo has become a receptacle in geological history. after a great earthquake thousands of years ago, this faultline cracked open and lo and behold, a valley lush and fertile unfolded...sadly, trees from nearby antipolo hills have been wantonly cut, raped and ravaged. where will the rain waters go? and sadly, the people's indifference have contributed to millions of trash...hence the flash floods rising, obtructing all passageways...how sad...i grieve...so many dead and numbers rising...so many of the children and elders lost, missing. and is their wisdom lost too? the children ask. perhaps i will offer a mandala for peace...

we need your positive thoughts...please send us some...we will be peace...

weena

the hidden, the small, the beautiful

today i was inspired to craft poetry out of pictures shared with me by blogger Christer (do follow his beautiful blog: thecottagebythecranelake.blogspot.com)...he did so many beautiful photos and the thought just popped into my mind. i'd like to thank him for sharing these, so my way of giving back the wonderful gesture of sharing is to write poetry. here goes...

the hidden, the small, the beautiful

i languished in grief and loss
to think of the wise old woman
by the church gate
she mumbled words
i took to heart
it was a cloudy day i remember




i shed tears
and the past recollections
of the years
gone, tucked within
the archives
of Life's pleasures...
i began to look
deep
in every place
where treasures
may be...

i looked, not up
not around,
for the spaces
were vast, wide,
open...




i traveled far,
walked paths
winding,
roads narrow,
and less traveled...





parched, dry,
exhausted, i
looked down,
down, on the ground,
i looked
at Earth
and found...





a tiny violet
smiling, brilliant,
lavish,
calling me to
wander into her
world
but where?
and walked
farther...



and oh my sense
of awe and wonder
has pricked
all other senses
for lo and behold
i would have missed
a green creature
if not for
the grass kissed
my hand
as my foot chanced
upon
a toadstool...



as deeper into
the woods i
looked...
wonder of all
wonders
i almost could not see
the weaving of a
spider,
i gasped in glee




remembering purple
when i mourned
for a friend lost
in cavernous thoughts
fleeing
from life, hard
and scorned
i sought her
and what to my delight
a precious sight,
my friend and her dancer
to the music of life
together...




still i wandered about
meandering paths

walking
but not grieving
remembering the
wise old woman
who mumbled
words

for somehow
in my little
adventures
i have found pleasures of
love, light
and life...
in things hidden, small,
beautiful...


thanks very much for photos of Christer

w.w.

psalm of a hut dweller...

there was no rain
the sun came out today,
i was smiling happy at everyone
i thought of visiting
the banana sidewalk vendor
and buy some
bananas...





they're still green
but soon will ripen and turn
into golden yellow...




as i walked back home
i thought of the people
who can't eat...

those who are pushed
to the margins of society
pushed to the
fringes of the cruel city...





i dreamed of the best
for everyone...
but i stopped dreaming
i began to shout and called...

i called the stones...





i called the bamboo...



i called the rivers...




my voice reached the ends of the
Sierra Madre...




and they heard
my voice...
let us build!
let us build for my
urban poor dweller
for my shanty settler.

let us build!
so that she can
live...




i reached my hut
ate my bananas
and dreamed
again...

is that all i can be?

down came the rains...

when it rains, and it's a sunday,
i love to get cups and cups of
fresh mountain coffee and
drown myself into its pool...
warm stuff warming the heart
on a cold day when cold hearts
everywhere, walk here and there...




i look out my window
and lo and behold

all 's well
life is good
blessings abound
i know better days
are coming
the vendor of rice cakes
said so...
i believe her
after all, she has lived
long
to tell me this...

she gave me a hibiscus
to embrace
from where is the hibiscus?

she said nothing
just the smile
of this flower.
and i smile back...





go gently through life now...

a poetic life...

i was not able to sleep well last night. i'm worrying a lot. it's always about my daughter. she's enjoying high school much and i'm scared. do you think it's normal? yes it is, you say? oh well, thanks, it can really be draining...i just had an afternoon snack of our homemade peanut butter and our famous local bread, "pan de sal"...hhmmmm...it's good to eat and fill your self with comfort food! it was my co-worker, malou's idea...

getting sleepy now, after the sugar overload i think. gee, i have to cut down on that sugar or else...or perhaps, i wasn't able to sleep much last night (yawn)...but you see when i can't sleep, i write poetry or random thoughts. and when i'm about to write that last line, my head drops on my desk, which wakes me up and when i wake up i struggle to write and fall again...whoa! that's the signal...time to hit the bed...but wait, let me share what i wrote

i have fallen
into the depths
a labyrinth

i long for this
darkness
this pit

an emptiness
s-p-a-c-e
a cold embrace

where all else
can be
nothing

this beast
residing
stirring
at the core
of my being

is also my
angel





(did the angel put me to sleep?.....)


go gently now... W.W.

soulwork is wonderful!

I've gone away for a long while...just from blogging, that is...probably the "blogblock"...but let me now share some thoughts i gathered from my heart (WW) and from others'...


creating womanspace
is going back to the Womb
of the Great Mother...

re-creating woman-story
all over again,
this time going through
a spiraling upwards
towards healing...

where blood, violence, hatred
brokenness are no more
and peace settles the heart...
calling, welcoming all to come,
reclaim wholeness... (WW)





"privation gives birth to power of soul and mind... distress is the nurse of self-respect... misfortune is a good breast for great souls." (v.hugo, 'les miserables')







...looks like this perfectly describes my inner life...August was indeed a tough month for me - at work and family demands; i'm taking care of 70-year old mom, who is sickly, and a 16-year old daughter who gives me tons and tons of laughter, tears, kisses, hugs...well, when she sent me this, i think i found myself questioning my style of parenting...












whoaaahhh! isn't she beautiful! the greatest gift in the world...being mom to my daughter and daughter to my mother is just so fulfilling. with all the rush to office work, keeping up with its demands, attending PTA, washing clothes, cooking, cleaning, writing...finally, keeping close to dear sweety at the end of the day, just makes me lift up my heart and say...thanks be to the (Great Mother-) God of Life!

go gently through life now...