Poesía

you are the soft, early morning breeze
that greets me so sweetly
damp from the night's mist
so fresh, so tender, so calm...

you are the warm, afternoon sun
that restores my strength and soothes me
glowing with radiance and warmth
so bright, so pleasant, so peaceful...

you are the serene, enigmatic night sky
that watches over me and lulls me to sleep
adorned by the moon and a million bright stars
so placid, so tranquil, so still...

On Happiness, Among Other Things

Yesterday, our grandmother celebrated her 79th. In keeping with the family’s tradition, we got together and were all too happy to spend the day with her and be with one another. Ours is an extra-large family and so it was a day-long affair that started with breakfast and ended with the pot-luck merienda senna. Lunch was as sumptuous as sumptuous can be; with Tatay around as our designated cook (Laicka insists we call him chef).

The kids were rowdy and noisy the whole day, while the teens were either playing cards or watching television. And all the while the elders—my aunts and uncles, including Lola—teased me about my impending spinsterhood. Oh, well… It’s never easy being the eldest apo…

Later in the day, while everyone is full with food, laughter, and stories, my niece came to me and asked me a profound question. “Tita, happy ka ba?” And I said, “Of course, baby. Tita is very, very happy.” But she followed it through with another question. “Why are you happy? Can you describe happiness to me?”

The moment she asked me the third question, I was almost crying. How can an eight-year-old kid ask these questions? And so I did try my best to describe happiness and being happy to her. I brought her to the balkonahe and sat her on a very comfortable and cozy spot. I asked her if she is comfortable, and she said yes. And then we talked about happiness and being happy.

I told her to look back to the day when her Dad brought home her pet rabbit…

I told her to look back to the day her baby sister Louise was born…

I told her to look back at the last Christmas morning we spent at Lola’s house… when she got her cash register toy and Lolo gave her a thousand-peso bill…

I told her to look back at her last recognition day when she was given an outstanding pupil award (that’s the highest honor her school gives to top students)…

After the last “look-back”, she smiled. She understood it all.

Looking back now, I do not want to think that my niece does not have a concept of happiness at all. She knew all about it, and yet, she needed to talk about it. And she felt that the best person to discuss it with her was me. And it felt good to talk about happiness and being happy with a child. It made me feel like a child, too.

But Laicka’s questions brought me so much… Emotion, remembrances… and even pain. But why pain? It brought me pain because it is only with pain that I recognized happiness… But that’s not what I told my niece, after all…

Wound Me Not, Hurt Me Not

Please...

Summer's Thunderstorms

Right. There is a raging thunderstorm outside. A strong, angry, powerful thunderstorm. And as heavy sheets of rain continue to pound heavily on the roof, the noise drowns my foggy mind as I struggled further to give light and meaning to my current emotional dilemma. I sat by the window in my third floor office and watched as the wildness went on outside. And while the thunderstorm unleashed its power, another thunderstorm continues to rage somewhere, deep in the tiniest spaces of my mind.

I watched the rain as it raged on. I watched as water poured in a rush from above in a fitful state, somewhat frenzied, like shattered glass. And like the soil below now soft because of the rain, I gave in. I let the overwhelming power rage on inside. I acquiesced to it. And it felt good. It felt good to give in. It felt good to have a finality, a conviction, an end. A surrender. It felt good to be free. Liberated, at last.

Outside, the skies began to clear, bringing the thunderstorm to a halt. It's funny how abruptly it stopped as wildly as it started. Then again, little droplets of rain continued to fall.

Prosa

you are my light
my guide.

you made me smile
made me sing.

you made me feel alive again...


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clement dionglay
18 april 2008
by the pond

Poesía

tonight i yearn to be with you.
tonight i yearn to be with you once again.

tonight...
i yearn to gaze into your eyes and peer into your soul
i yearn to hold your hands in mine and find strength in them
tonight i yearn to be with you again.

tonight...
i yearn to bury my face in the softness of your hair
i yearn to kiss you and hold you in my arms
tonight i yearn to be with you again.

tonight...
i yearn to feel your touch as i hold your body close to mine
i yearn to feel the fire in my fingertips as i caress you
i yearn to be one with you over and over again

tonight i yearn to be with you again...

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clement dionglay
april 18, 2008

(More) New Firetrucks

Here are the firetrucks I bought from fellow DCPH member Leo Sajonas. I went on a trip to Caloocan yesterday, and when I arrived at the office last night, a JRS package was waiting for me. Inside are 9 firetrucks I ordered last week. Look on.

More Firetrucks

I'm really crazy about trucks now, especially little, small firetrucks. Here are my most recent "acquisitions", products of my recent weekend trip to the mall.

Here's a most coveted Takara Tomy ChoroQ No. 42. It's such a beauty.

And here's a Cararama Land Rover Fire and Rescue Service. It comes with an acrylic case. So nice.

And here's a MatchBox Ladder Kings. I'm so tempted to open the blister pack!!!

Some Updates

Finally. After more than two weeks of hiatus, here are a few updates on my collections.

I got a new elephant from my friend Janeth. It measures .75" tall and 1.25" long. Janeth said it's from Thailand and is made of brass. (She also told me it's a pasalubong from his boss. Hehehe.)


I got new trucks, too! I got a 1978 Tomy #12 Toyota Forklift FD200, two variants of Tomy #53 (Nissan Diesel Mixers), a Terex 72-81 Loader (#118), an Isuzu Elf Aerial Platform (#70), two Komatsus: a Motor Grader (#24) and a Power Shovel PC200 Galeo (#9).

This Toyota forklift is my current favorite. Ang ganda nya!

I got two variants of the same Tomy line for the first time with these two #53s.

When Noel came home last week from his Kuala Lumpur trip, he gave me a wine stirrer from his KL hotel (Armada Hotel) and two Coca-Cola cans from KL and Singapore.

The Vanilla Coke can is from Singapore (my second Singapore can), while the Coke Light is from Malaysia.

Then Popen came home from his US vacation and brought me three shotglasses and one Hard Rock Café shooter. He also bought me Pilot G2 sets and BIC Velocity pens.

Whee! I got two US shotglasses, Washington DC and New York. The one with the car detail is a NASCAR shotglass.

Then he bought me a Hard Rock Café shooter from HRC New York, which brings my HRC shooters to three. The other two are from Singapore and Makati. The one from Singapore is also from Popen, and we were together when we bought our HRC Makati shooters.

I have more G2s now, and a set of BIC Velocity ballpens.

Hala. It really felt like Christmas last week. I came home Wednesday afternoon with a large bag full of gifts. It's truly a blessing (and a gift) to have very, very good friends (like I have) who:

• does not mind parting with their precious items just so my collection will get a new addition;
• does not mind lugging along empty Coca-Cola cans and fragile shotglasses
• is okay with nicking hotel wine stirrers just so I'll be happy.

Janeth, Noel, and Popen, thank you, thank you, thank you!!!