Poems from April 11 - April 20, 2011

Second installment of my summer 2011 poems (Note that for the week from April 18-20, I only wrote one poem every two days):

(the poem below is in Filipino)
Munting Basura


Ang paksa: Ang mga lungsod ng Muntinlupa at Biñan ay nag-iimplement na ng batas ukol sa pagbawal ng paggamit ng mga supot sa kanilang lugar. Ngunit sa buong Pilipinas, ang mga tao ay nagtatapon pa rin ng basura nang basta-basta sa kahit saan.


Araw-araw, tayo ay nagtatapon ng mga basura
Malaki man o maliit, sa kung saan-saan
Kaya’y madumi palagi ang paligid sa kahit saan.

Mga maliit na supot, mga balat ng kendi, at marami iba pa
Ay ang mga munting basura.
Ngunit ayaw pansinin ng mga matataas ang mga maliliit.

Dapat kailangan pansinin nila na ang basura
Ay sa lahat ng hugis at laki,
At dapat ipaalam sa mga tao na kailangan itapon ang mga basura nila
Sa tamang lugar.

Kailan sila matututo?
Kapat ipagpabawal na ang mga supot,
Tapon pa rin sila ng tapon kung saan-saan.
Baguhin dapat ang ugali ng mga tao
Para matuto na sila ng tama.

ika-11 ng Abril 2011

The Lone Armchair


Background: Armchairs are the norm in high schools and colleges. This poem is about a solo armchair outside a classroom, taken out for unknown reasons.


An armchair is outside the room where it’s supposed to serve
Doing nothing or about to do harm to others.
Yet it remains one such useful object
To the success of the student, the classroom and the school.

Even if it’s just one solitary object
It serves many students and uses
But its chief purpose is to let the student sit in it
Even taking in the students’ feelings and thoughts.

If it has been worn out by students, it should be replaced
Or if it has already been condemned, it should have a final disposition
But many armchairs are as old or even older than the students themselves.
We are sure that we may outlive them.

April 12, 2011



Last Goodbye (as Students)


Background: I went to UP Diliman to attend my blockmates’ graduation on the day this poem was written to say my last goodbyes to them.


They’re now on the stage
Wearing their togas or formal wear
But I’ve been left behind
For some reason
I will miss them forever
Even if I graduate later
I will still miss them.

April 13, 2011



For Ryan (the Last Goodbye)


Background: My blockmate, Ryan Lapus, graduated from college at the same day that he migrated with his family to Los Angeles.


I attended your classmates’ graduation
But you weren’t there
Why? Because you were busy packing up your bags?
Or you were sure that you skipped us for your family?
Either way, I have had a lot of moments with you
Both good and bad
Good luck to your new life in L.A.
And be good to us for the years to come.

April 14, 2011



I didn't write any poems from Friday, April 15 - Sunday, April 17. Friday night I went to eat with my mom and her HS friends at Seaside (near MOA); Saturday night I went to Marcelo Green, Parañaque to eat and socialize with my high school friends at a friend's house there; Sunday I went to church and later to Makati Medical Center, where a friend was then confined there.

For Holy Week, I only wrote a poem every two days because Physics and then the arrival of my aunt's balikbayan box took away my writing time.

Small But Meaningful


Background: The Saturday before I wrote this, my high school friends and I had a small reunion at a friend’s house in Marcelo Green, Parañaque. While I was there, we told to each other a lot of things about us and our classmates who were not there.


We’re all in the house of a former batchmate
Telling to each other what had happened over the years
Since we separated ways
Even though it’s hard to swallow for some
That the fact that we are in different worlds
Means that the worlds we leave behind have changed a lot
For some, while others haven’t changed at all.

While many couldn’t make it
Due to prior commitments
The ones who could bring life to the conversation
And tell everything they had done
And tell whatever happened to those who don’t know
And those who couldn’t make it.

We hope we can continue this until we all go up to Heaven.

April 18, 2011



Life in the Classroom


Background: In a classroom, be it in elementary, high school or college, there are two groups involved: the teacher (or professor in college setting) and the students. This describes life in a typical college classroom.


Here we are, in a classroom
Where professors and students meet
He will teach us, and we will learn from him.

While we await him
We enjoy our freedom
Either we study in advance or we do our other activities
Or even interact with each other.

When he comes, we are quiet and listening to him.
Depending on the lesson, we react differently
And sometimes make noise along the way.

When classes end for the day
We part ways, or we go together
But we learn from experience
That it’s not just the lesson that matters.

April 20, 2011