Coping Mechanism
“In the organic world, adaptation is atavistic;
a matter for the instinct, not the intellect.”
–from a lecture on the philosophy of aesthetics
Someday I will feel better
And look back on all of these
With a smile and a shrug;
That day, when memories rush
Into my head, I won’t flee
But relish its arrival: hectic,
Lush, organic, like life itself.
And I [...]
My maternal grandmother, Victoria Mendoza Protacio, was born this day in 1925. Had she been alive, today she would have been 85 years old. Unfortunately, less than a month after she turned 80, we lost her to cancer. They always say that grandparents and grandchildren have a special bond, that it almost borders on being [...]
Joyce, one of my true good friends, is leaving soon for Canada in a few days. I was hoping to catch her in Manila but delays in the completion of my work commitments here in Cambodia has made it impossible for us to see each other before she leaves. I last saw her in 2008, [...]
This is somewhat connected to the previous post (again), where I compared the creative process to child birth. The title is an obvious giveaway, of course. God knows I tried to device other titles for this poem years after its subject left my social circle. But everything else I came up just didn’t seem suitable. [...]
I’ve always likened the process of writing a story or a poem as akin to giving birth. Because once you put it out into the world, you have to relinquish all control as to how it is going to be perceived by the world. As its progenitor, you can only hope that you have given [...]
June 20 was Father’s day. When I woke up I quickly sent to my mother in Manila a greeting, via SMS, to be relayed to my father. He does not own a mobile phone, hence that method of message delivery. I wonder, though, even if he had a mobile phone, would I have been able [...]