Sunday, September 30, 2012

Old Poems Lost and Found

As I was trying to reorganize my old stuff- piles of paper, dusty books, old photos-I stumbled upon a collection of old poems I wrote ages ago. They were among the early poems I wrote and published in the Philippine Graphic magazine. And so here they are coming back to life and seeing the digital light for the first time...



Original Version with Artwork




GUIMARAS

by Alvin Bulaong Cruz

Human breath is held,
human thought weighs
like sand in an eternity
of the moment when man
and sea hold each other
as Time holds the sand.

One flows into the other.

In this equilibrium of
weight and silence all
is heard and nothing falls.

Lying on the shore with
outstretched arms like
Jesus crucified, my body
is the fall of silence
on the sea's sun-kissed
lips, and the sea is one
big human thought that
weighs heavy on my floating
mind.

Before the wave breaks
to erase my traces I say
my last words:

How can eternity last but
a moment?

O Jesus put an end
to this endless human thought
that weighs us empty.


IMAGINARY LOOKING GLASS

by Alvin Bulaong Cruz


Nothing exists that
we cannot see
through the imaginary
looking glass.

Unlike ordinary mirrors
here nothing looks
the same way twice.

It is this mirror,
always a mirror without
our face, that keeps
staring back at us.



FORGETFULNESS

by Alvin Bulaong Cruz


What has long been said
remains unsaid in our
forgetfulness, in the
long-forgotten silence
that dares not speak its
name: the memory of our
non-existence.



FOREVER

by Alvin Bulaong Cruz


To dream once and lose
that dream many times over

to break your life
into tiny bits of hope
like a day that ends
with stars,

eternal promises of what
remains,

to keep forever from going on

The Golden Years: A Tribute To My Parents


Last Sept. 29, my parents held their 50th wedding anniversary celebration at a hotel in Quezon City. They renewed their vows in  a mass held at the poolside of the hotel. It was drizzling but the whole ceremony was solemn and nostalgic. With my three siblings and their spouses, together  with a few close friends and relatives witnessing the renewal of vows, I tried to imagine their wedding 50 years ago. How fortunate for us children to witness this once-in-a-lifetime moment in the lives of our beloved parents.

The Wedding Invite
                                                              

It was a well-attended event. Most of those who came are relatives from Malolos, Bulacan- our hometown. My mother's longtime friends from La Suerte where she used to work also graced the affair. A very special guest, my uncle Tito Tab from Canada, was one of the biggest  surprises. He came with his wife Tita Opay and gave a short speech during the reception.

My brother Benjie did a great job in hosting and entertaining the wedding guests with all his funny anecdotes and witty spiels only he could pull off with resounding success. He elicited laughter every time he threw those punchlines. 

The Wedding Venue
                                                              

A good friend of ours, Goody, sang a couple of songs -”Ikaw” and “April Love”-my parents' theme song.

A special AVP prepared by my nieces Jackie and Gia briefly chronicled  our family history through pictures and music. Watching this, I felt quite old but it also reminded me that we've gone through a lot of good times and bad times together. It also showed the expansion of the Cruz family tree as my brothers and sister began to build their own family. 

The Renewal of Vows
                                                            



The Wedding Cake
                                                             

Finally, all of the four children, including myself, each gave a speech as a tribute to our parents. Benjie spoke on the dark period in the family when my mom suffered a stroke in 2001. Bernard reminisced his childhood growing up in Manila in the early 70s, and looked back at the beginning of his dream to be an architect upon seeing the construnction of our first home in Malolos. Pinky narrated her experiences when Mama lived in America in the early 90s and Tatay took on the responsibility as a hands-on father. For my part, I shared about how we learned to be independent at a time when both my parents were working and struggling to make both ends meet. Yet in spite of that, it is to my parents' credit that the four of us overcame the odds and managed not only to succeed but to make a difference in our lives.

“Congratulations on your golden year, Mama and Tatay. You have made us proud to have you as our parents because you have done a great job in raising a family that's sticking it out together through thick and thin. Thank you for all the love you have shared through the years, even though most of the time I was not worth it. Your love will be the legacy for many generations of Cruzes to come We love you both very much.”




Sunday, September 9, 2012

Memoirs of a Traveling Life

In the travel essay "Of Travel and Travel Writing" I reminisce the early years of my travel experiences which regrettably I was not able to capture both in words and in pictures. But there are lessons I learned, both as a traveler and as a writer. Please view the complete article published in Manila Bulletin on 9/9/12.