Never Again

Never again shall I fall

Never again I will crawl

If I met your likes

I just have to be scarce

The charm I’ll resist

The smile I won’t miss

Scarred me for a lifetime

My heart opted a vacation for a while

You have that magic to lure me in

You entice me so mad back then

That time when you know what to do

But your feet just won’t move

Keep telling your heart it’s for the best

Oh how stubborn it was till you give in

Several times you repeat the cycle

You lost count on how much you falter

They keep telling me to stop

But I think I lost an ear by the beating of my heart

I don’t know what’s with you

Why I just couldn’t cease from going after you

And then I knew I was holding on to nothing

But for a while I thought I meant something

How my day used to be about you

And now I finally knew it can be about me too

Nasaan si Katarungan?

        

                                  Photo not mine

       

     Nasaan na nga ba si katarungan na pilit inaasam

        Sa lupang sinilingan tila naging bulag na lamang

        Parating dinidinig ngunit di nakakamit

        Hanggang senado na lang aabutin yaong banggit

        Kung may mapipiit, sa pera’y lalaya

        Mga kaso mabibinbin at tila walang pag-asa

        Yuyurakan ang dangal ng inang bayan

        Sa pagluklok sa mga dating kinasuhan

        O Pilipinas kong bayan kailan ka matututo

        Sa tuwing botohan ika’y nagpapauto

        Papagamit ka ngayon kapalit ng mamiso

        Pagdurusa ng iyong mga anak sasapitin nito

       

        Ang mahirap lalong naghihirap

        Ang mayayaman siyang nagpapasarap

        Bakit mo sinadlak ang iyong tanglaw?

        Kapalit ng barya ika’y nauhaw

        Habang si Juan ay nagkukumahog

        Maitawid lang ang gutom sa maghapon

        Si Pedro ay nagpapahangin sa kanyang kwarto

        Pumasok man o hindi ay may makukubra ito

        Sa liit ng kita ni Nena sa araw-araw

        Dugo, pawis at pagod ang puhunan

        Kakaltasan para sa pondo ng bayan

        Ngunit ginhawa ay hindi maramdaman

        Kapag may kaso ang kinauukulan

        Sari-saring sakit ang dinadamdam

        Ngunit habang nagpapakasasa sa kaban ng bayan

        Ang kalusugan o edad ay sadyang di alintana

        Bakit ka naging mailap katarungan?

        Tayo nama’y magkakalahi sa iisang bayan

        Ngunit bakit ang katotohanan ay pilit binabaluktot

        Upang ang may sala ay di mamaluktot

        Matatawag ka pa bang katarungan?

        Kung wala namang mapaparusahan

        Kung ika’y di rin lang para sa lahat

        Ang iyong kahulugan ay kathang isip na lang.

       

        

The Dictates of Wealth

We all know how important money is in today’s time. You use it to buy your daily needs like food, shelter and clothing. And in today’s generation wherein technology has become a necessity in living, you throw in there electricity, cellphones and other gadgets, internet. Going to places, you need money for transportation or fuel. You use that cash to spend for education and recreation. From womb to tomb, it’s hard to make it through without money around.

The message I wanted to convey is not we need money to survive in this world, yes it’s a necessity but it should never dictate how we should live our lives. This is what’s happening in the world right now. Most people are letting money take over their lives that they have forgotten the essence of living.

We always think of how we’re going to be so happy by buying things that we don’t necessarily need. New shoes, latest gadgets, trendy outfits that will really give you that elated feeling that would soon be replaced by another craving. When in fact, real happiness does not have an expiration or worth.

The true sources of happiness are the ones that money can’t buy. These are love, friends, family, work and faith. If your partner and/or friend is only after your money then he/she is not your lover or friend but just a user who wants to squeeze every ounce of cash from you. You cannot buy your family, it’s your origin. There are times that you may feel like they’re only after your money but that’s for another discussion later on. I know some people may buy their way through their work, politicians, use of backer. But generally having work makes a person happy. Aside from generating the means to get through with your everyday needs, more importantly it gives you that sense of purpose and accomplishment that Masslow would definitely agree with me. How does it feel when you got sacked from work or you just can’t really land one? Some people may take work for granted but they’ll know what work really meant to a person once they lose it. Some people even lose themselves in the process, that’s how bad it can take its toll on you. Lastly, faith, just for the sake of sharing what I believe in, this isn't up for arguments with the atheist or people of different faith from me. It’s hard to argue with something I have no idea of or have little knowledge about. I wanted to say not just as a Catholic but people of different religions who worship one God who may come in different names, it gives you a reason to hold on and defines your morals on how you should live life. Without a God, how do you know the right path? Our God gives us that sense of direction. Although some of us may not be taking faith seriously becoming secondary to worldly needs and other people still without Him we’d be nothing. When you feel like God never abandons you despite all your shortcomings as His son/daughter, it’s the happiest feeling you’ll ever know. Stemming from this is faith in humanity, if you believe in His work of art, that we were made in His image and likeness then it’s safe to say you haven’t given up on mankind. You believe that we were born good and can redeem ourselves no matter what. I’m waiting for that day too and hopefully that day would be called soon.

The negative influence of money, this would be the focus of my essay. How money seems to make the world go round and dictate a person’s life. If you choose to take away what is meant for everyone in order to be richer than the rest then you are letting money be your Lord in exchange for your soul. This is what’s happening to some of our corrupt officials. Not just in politics, even people who do not have any connection to the government have been exercising this demon in the community. The fact that they come in all forms and different sectors is very alarming. That thinking that it’s okay to take advantage of our brothers and sisters in order to get by and above the others is slowly destroying the foundation of human existence. We ought to be above all other forms existing on Earth, above the animals yet look at what we have become? Instead of taking care of each other because we have the brains to think, we use them to further dampen the spirits of our brothers ‘till they can no longer stand up. While some are lavishing from the fruits of their cunning labor. This has become the reality, I before you. Deceit and deception for one's prosperity. It makes me cry or gets me sad when the important people in our lives get affected by this bug. I don’t want to see a good foundation or relationship crumble over money that can be pried away from your hands so quickly. I don’t want to wake up one day when no one knows kindness, compassion and camaraderie. It would be a nightmare to live in a world where everyone is doing his best to pull someone else down and pit to his very last breath. And at this rate this cancer in the world is proliferating, it may overcome even the last ounce of kindness man has in him. It may happen, think about this kind of culture being inculcated to every single young minds the world has. And we'd be harboring people who have been robbed of their humanity. When you start things right, everything else will follow. Money is just there to buy the commodity not to buy your humanity. Don’t let it take over and change you into someone you no longer recognize.

Whenever people kept tugging on my strings of patience, I sit around and pray that that string will hold forever. You cannot change other people but you can always start the change in you and let it ripple. And when things seem to get out of hand, always be the better person in every equation. Easier said than done but really every small action can still cause an impact to our nation.