Category: Essays

I am a sinner, just like all the others. But if you knew what actions I’ve done, what lies I’ve told, or what decisions I’ve made, you’d probably look at me with disdain in your eyes and a frown on your lips, even if I were your best friend.

Echoing laughter bounces from one mouth to another.  “Kwento mo sa pagong,” someone barked at a person’s long, inconvenient story. As if to say, “Tell it to the turtle; it might have the time to listen to you” or in times when the story sounds too good to be true.  It’s the little joke we…

Since childhood, I have always been captivated by the endless mysteries of the night sky.

They say princesses exist only in fairy tales, wearing bejeweled ball gowns that shimmer with glitter, waiting beneath lavish chandeliers for a prince to arrive and carry them toward happily ever after. Stories say their lives are stitched from golden threads and untouched by sorrow. Precious jewels rest lightly upon their heads, as if royalty were nothing more than a beautiful inheritance.

Hope tastes like a remedy that never truly cures.

The bitterness does not come when the medicine first grazes my tongue. It arrives when I start to believe in recovery, only to find myself still unwell despite every desperate remedy.

A farmer and a shepherd.  One who sows seeds in the ground of his field, which he nurtures and waters day by day to show his faith. He works with what he has and gives all that he can.  And one who offers with his stained hands—hands that slaughtered lambs and reek of blood.  Two…

Noong bata pa ako, akala ko na ang aking guardian angel ay isang kabalyerong may balat na bakal at pakpak na tumutubo sa likod. O kaya naman, isa siya sa mga kerubin na nakapinta sa kisame ng mga katedral. Laging nakabantay sa akin, kasama ang kaniyang namumula’t malulusog na pisngi at halo na puno ng…

“Today in Kabul, a female cat has more freedom than women.” Isang nilalang na may apat na paa, dalawang malambot na mata, at bibig na nakapagsasalita nang malaya. Isang nilalang na nagtataglay ng purong kalayaang gumala sa mga daang-alikabok, bukas sa libu-libong tahimik na posibilidad. Natagpuan ko ang aking sarili na tumatawid sa kalsada. Ako’y…

May mga luha tayong tahimik na itinatago, mga bigat na palihim nating pasan araw-araw.

Kapag nagkakasabay ang mga suliranin, unti-unti tayong napapagod. Hindi maiiwasan ang pagkabalisa tungkol sa nakaraan at sa kinabukasan.