Sensational Grooming

The trickling of water, cold
on and through the hair
appeasing the cracked surfaces
drought from a four-hour exposure.

Fingers pressed on the temples
Eyes wide shut, wanting sleep
then a cool, creamy liquid
snakes around the vines.

More pressure on the left and right
scratching, caressing, massaging
bubbles bubbles, soapy sweet
feathery feeling, keep going.

The waters trickle once more
continuous dropping, cold
smooth, refreshing
sensational.

Update

Let's put it in simpler terms:

June-July 2005
Christmas in July; strawberries and cream; tuesday madness; durian sweetness; dehydrated - rehydrated; nervous; impatient; 24 hours = 24 minutes; 2 minutes = 24 hours; red mondays; black saturdays; brown sundays; single mindedness; only one; lovely music; rainy midnights; sunny mornings; chirping sparrows!?; blue; pink; ahh the durian plague!?; photographic memory - single mindedness; Manila; Manila Blues; Manila Girl; Welcome to the Ateneo; hot; happy; sexy; pretty; tired; room; people people; trike; LRT; nice to meet you; thank you; i hope to know you better.

August-September 2005
the Old Man with Enormous Wings; the dying old man who left one day and she was happy - - a dot in the sky; denial; haha no, no more; (but . . .); star trek voyager - the 7 year journey -- home; i hope to know you better - i got to you know you better thank you - bow; ito ang Postkolonyal; Physics; tuesday blues; rainy days and mondays always get me down; write a poem, the song for Mary; go Ateneo; trying to forget; (but . . .); work work work harder harder harder; forget forget; remember remember; how why what when where?; anniversary; smile smile smile!

October 2005
The End of Days; "I Shall Return"; sweet home Alabama; welcome home; down from the hill; down to the world go I; Fresh Milk; SCIFI; The Anastacia Robot; forget forget; memories; high school; never forget; remember remember; forget forget; (but . . .)

Be Mindful of Your Surroundings

Rule number ... :
Be Mindful of Your Surroundings.
You must be able to show:
you don't know, despite you actually knowing.

Be mindful of your surroundings
or else you might get overtaken
and she might not notice
that you noticed her noticing you.

... :
You must have sharp eyes
look left and right
you're actually looking at the trees,
pretending you're busy with your fingers.

... :
You must have flexible feet
and know when to slow down
kick a rock once in a while
tie your shoelaces, trip

... :
You must have attentive ears
that listen backwards, towards
the sound that come closer
closer, noticing.

Be Mindful of Your Surroundings
and play this perfect system
stop - look - listen
go - blind - deaf

So that once she comes by you
she will notice
that you noticed her noticing you.

Vanity

Mirror, mirror
on the wall
I want to be
tall.

Mirror, mirror
on the wall
does it matter
thinner or fatter?

Mirror, mirror
on the wall
tell me
am I full of beauty?

Mirror, mirror
on the wall
tell me...
fat or scrawny?

Mirror, mirror
on the wall
please be true
red or blue?

Mirror, mirror
on the wall
honestly
fat or scrawny?

Mirror, mirror
on the wall
would they care
straight or curled hair?

Mirror, mirror
on the wall
I need to look
tall.

Mirror, mirror
on the wall
I want to be
all.

Reunion

We've been together
not once, but for most,
more than seven years
as playmates, as friends.

And ten years from now
we shall converge, seated
in a long table: thumbtacked mantel
silver spoons, white plates.

Reminiscing about the happy past:
a happy hour with wine, bbq
beer, nachos, chips, pizza?
Just like old times.

You are in your black and whites
in your formalities, heeled and polished.
We never thought you'd end up this way
rich, successful, beautiful, smart!

And the Valedictorians
and the talkers, the microphones
give a speech - sentimental.
A tear meanders down your cheek.

Cheers! Salute! A toast!
to those who remembered
to those who never forgot;
returned, reunited.

Chickentastic!

Chickens - are such magnificent creatures.
They can fly halfway, with their tasty Wings
and run really fast with their flexible Adidas.
As sophisticated as Magnolia blossoms.

Chickens have every part of them available.
Edible. Chicken sandwhichs, Chicken Hotdogs,
Cluck cluck - Gizzards, Morning alarms - Drumsticks
Thunder thighs and thick breasts.

They come in races too.
Good versus evil: Dark meat vs. White meat.
Racial preference: Brown vs. White.
Cultural differences: Kabir vs. Gallus Bankiva.

Stupid Fools. Chicken!
You Chicken boy!?
Ah, that was just Chicken!
Can I have some more Chicken?

Cockadoodledoo!
The next time we have them for dinner,
let's make sure we eat everything.
Chickentastic!

The Wanderers

Circling in powerful loops
around their revered camp fire.
Appearing and then disappearing
from our observance.

At that routine for millenia,
constant yet never restless.
They've kept their secrets:
potent, explosive, beautiful.

They've always been enigmatic
through the peephole of our vision.
A band of chasing brothers
performing their eternal ancient ritual.

We are just like them: brothers
cared by a single mother,
with some adopted children.
Wandering in the dark and desolate frontier.

Yesterday's Dream

I remember it clearly:
You gave me your hugs, kisses, and your word
that you love me and will never forget me.
                                                  that you will return.
How could I forget.

I sat, my legs were pale and weak,
in the aid of a rusty lounge chair
and the jacket which seemed to love me
at all times when the frigid winds would attack:
                                                            never letting go.

I was developing a cold. My nose was getting heavy
my throat dry and unjustified, my eyes tired and soaked.
While I kept playing the lines of the song:
memories,
                 tears,
                           separation,
                                              goodbye,
                                                               reasons,
                                                                              ...

The rain which was behind me arrived in a furious outpour.
No umbrella, no shade, no shelter - the cold got worse.

I could no longer get home, my legs infested by a million ants
ten thousand miles in distance, and I froze in that rusty old chair
and the jacket which seemed to love me
was overcome by the frigid wind and the degrading storm; soaked
                                                              unfastened (fastened) and let go.

How could I forget what you said.
You gave me your promise that you will always be with me.

The rain arrived in front of me in a wailing outpour,
and finally I stood, weak and pale. The jacket
                                                    gone, adrift in the storm.

*This poem was an experiment with a 'false' inspiration.

The March of the Elitists

Look at them -
in their twinkling toes
trying so hard and hesitantly
to cross the muddy path.

And they wave their flags
in the comfort of their automobiles.
The reactions of the Others unnoticed
reflected back by the waxed paint.

You listen to their words:
attempting to encompass the population
in their exciting discussion,
then leaving it to rot in the minds.

They march on this cold night
in black and red, implying a plea
taking their march for granted -
a mere show of vanity and money.

Their march characterized by
their music - a post-colonial study.
They're trees with no roots
in turn, a blind eye.

On this night, they march
a creative noise barrage,
dulled by the cold and incessant rain
only in their black and red.

Fly Away

Get away from land
the greed of man will bring you nowhere
where you will live constrained
by the poverty of money.

Fly away to the heavens
and sleep for eternity
in the fluffy beds of the clouds,
a pillow and a roof for shelter.

Ascend and do not look down.
Leave your troubles behind
and soar straight into the embrace
of warmth - life.

Enjoy the breeze, the freedom
the independence, the space.
Do not look down, look instead
at the blue and white.

Zoom your way to the brightness
Do not look back, look ahead.
Until you become a shining star
in the night sky.

2005 Fly Away by Eric Smith

The Time Now

The time is 11:03 PM
And I have gone through the tests
again, while keeping in touch with
the Notes and the Voices.

That was at 10:52 PM
when I decided to wrap it up,
in foil, then glad wrapped,
sealed and put away to cool.

Eleven minutes later
The Notes buzz around and
the Voices convey their grievances
in a harmonious clutter of sounds.

Now, it's 11:06 PM
And the Notes begin to mute
and the Voices proclaim
and give their final pleas.

Orange Juice

This orange liquid tastes exactly what it's color connotes.
How are you so sure you're not drinking orange paint?
Its molecules have an orange color - which makes them similar.
They are both in a liquid state...
Very much different from an orange crayon...
Hmm...and the same can be obtained with a mixture
of orange powder and water.
So, it's not orange paint or an orange crayon
but it can be sourced from a mixture of
orange powder and water.
How do I know I'm not drinking blended orangutan hair?
It wouldn't taste what the color connotes..
Have I tasted blended orangutan hair?
Wait wait...have I tasted an orange crayon...?
But my orange juice has pulps!

This August Chamber

They are confronted by the colors of honor peace, courage, independence, and unity. It stares at them with blinding intensity, like the radiation from a nuclear meltdown. Loathing in their seats of comfort, without observance of slightest respect for their peers, if not for the regulations of home, they have not proven much. This August chamber did not address the problems staring them in the eye. They did not pass on the bills to their constituents - they passed on the bills to their peers.

They are more of April, May, June, July and December: soaked in turbulent weather, dry and baked from scattering uplifting spices, inutile, greedy from the cold.

Berry Funny

Kling klang kling klang
Can you hear it?
Can you feel it?
September
October
November
December
What do they have in common?
They all end in -ber.
What does that mean?
No, it's not Cebuano for beer ..ahem "ber"
Neither is it Cebuano for bear..ahem "ber"
Ber Brand, the Brown Ber, One Bergundy Place
Ber is for
September
October
November
December
Yes! They are months that end in -ber..ahem "ber"
Because from
September to
October to
November to
December
It becomes Ber-ry cold!

Forgot Forget

Damn I didn't know!
No wonder it was so weird
The day I mean, was just so un-usual:
Everything seemed new.

If only I knew, I could have given it.
But I guess I forgot so it goes both ways -
I forgot so you forget, and when you forget
I want to forget.

Ah just forget it.
Ha-ha-ha. I wish I had remembered.
But if I forget what I forgot then
this will all be forgotten. Right?

Forget what happened:
I forgot so you forget,
and when you forget
I want to forget. Forgotten.

Trekking the Universe

Wouldn't it be exciting to explore the universe?
From point to point and quadrant to quadrant.
Gliding past structures, common and diverse,
Boundless; numerous digits remain constant.

Composed of beautiful spatial fractals,
is the Cartesian plane of space.
Planets, nebulas, quasars and more
Somewhat extract the thoughts of a treacherous place.

Light years they call it,
For the distance light travels in a year.
Are shortened by notation
For the millions of billions, of interpolated denomination.

Extensive yet enigmatic the complex cosmos is,
There shall be a time when we come parallel to this ambition.
Infinite though the space may be,
Likewise are the infinite possibilities of trekking the stars.

for Ms. Agnes V. Resujento
Mathematics 9
13th of January 2003

Your Condition

Your mind is confused:
You want to sleep, eat, sing, shout, run, drink, play, kick, scratch, poke, pick, pull, push, vomit, lick, spit, pinch, throw, talk, call, smash, stretch, exercise, watch, witness, write.

Your desk is cluttered with:
Pens, stapler, cellphone, mouse, lamp, tv, keys, cookies, books, notebooks, glass, spoon, speakers, dictionary, webcam, bracelets, magazines, paper, glue, wallet, id, cards, batteries, coins, dust, things.

Your thoughts are:
Confused, exploding, battling, lazy, cluttered, messy, annoyed, motionless, dirty, scary, dry, wet, suppressed, emotional, sentimental, happy, fun, excited, invisible, intangible.

Your eyes, they want to:
Kill, poison, flood, destroy, open, push, pull, burn, move, float, fly, pop, peel, rotate, close, sleep.

Nexus Log

Welcome to Nexus Log version 3.0.

The Decision

Kill it.
Extinguish the flame once and for all.
We have come to such a decision
after months of deliberation.

Unethical, inhuman or inconsiderate
you may call us anything you want.
It has been decided and you
cannot do anything about it.

Whatever the difficulties that may arise
(because nothing is ever fail-proof)
It shall be dealt when encountered.
As for now, it should be executed.

At least it will be free.
No longer will it undergo those tests,
and though it had potential
it did not cope with the Change.

It would be useless to resist.
We will go on with life and so should you.
Do not try to regret for us or fuss,
better yet respect what has been decided.

The Decision is clear:
it is final, it is not the end
it is hate, it is love
it is death, it is life.

Voyager Excerpt I

We have to talk about this.

Alright.

I think we need to define some parameters...about us.

I'm not sure I can define parameters...But I can tell you a story, an ancient legend among my people. Its about an angry warrior who lived his life in conflict with the rest of his life - a man who couldn't find peace, even with the help of his spirit guide.

For years, he struggled with his discontent. But the only satisfaction he ever got came when he was in battle. This made him a hero among his tribe, but the warrior still longed for peace within himself. One day, he and his war party were captured by a neighboring tribe led by a woman warrior. She called on him to join her because her tribe was too small and weak to defend itself from all its enemies. The woman warrior was brave and beautiful and very wise. The angry warrior swore to himself...that he would stay by her side, doing whatever he could to make her burden lighter. From that point on, her needs would come first. And in that way...the warrior began to know...the true meaning of peace.

Is that really...an ancient legend?

No. But that made it easier to say.

=/\=

Log 703

The Sun starts to melt
into the calm waters ahead.
It becomes ever so familiar
as I cuddle here by the platform.

Salty air whisks across the deck
and my hair untangles from it's stiffness,
free from the knots of time - refreshing
and I begin the 703rd entry of my Log.

The black ink seeps into the pulps,
cursive writing decorates the heading.
The past starts to get impatient,
deliberately pushing its way to the present.

And the ever constant wind makes it worse,
carrying with it messages from my loved ones
the life and bones of soil and soul
generates a massive wave.

Storms have not been able to take it away.
Events such as that are engraved
and only the rage of Poseidon
can strike it down.

But so far, those have not been adrift
and picked up by my oars.
They have instead been dried crisp and carved
by the divine drought of the sea.

Yet Home creeks and complains of aches,
softly sinking - eventually cold and dark.
It is unfortunate that I will not be able
to witness the Sunrise.

The howling wind returns the knots on my hair.
Light plays a game of catch ahead
and the pulp starts to return to its origin.
I cuddle calmy by the platform.

The stars above no longer sparkle,
and Home becomes a whirlwind of chaos.
By now the Sun has melted completely
and the wind shores up tonnes of messages.

The past is now at present,
bonded now through drought and flood.
Sealed, adrift, waiting
to be picked up by the oars of time.

Familiar Strangers

Stop
and take a close look around you
you are silent, motionless
you watch the water make its way down the gutter.

Wait
as the people you know pass by
let them go ahead with you unnoticed
you follow their footsteps.

Go
before your time runs out
run towards them and make yourself heard,
you introduce yourself to the strangers.

Delete and Forget

To effectively forget something you'd have to delete it from your mind.

Just imagine or better yet, think of your mind being a row of filing cabinets. You can opt to go high-tech and picture them as file folders in a computer screen with the title My Documents. A folder for Math, a folder for Literature, a folder for Morning Routine and so on and so on. There's nothing to worry anyways about the lack of disk space - your mind can hold terrabytes and quadrabytes - byteless amounts of data. Memory loss is however something to be weary about, as it does not function at 100 percent efficieny. But let's not delve into that.

So let's say you have this folder named Faces. Picture your mind accessing that folder, pointing the cursor on the faces you hate or dislike or just find plain ugly and useless - right click - delete. There never was a subroutine as "Forget" in the first place. Sometimes if you're equipped with the latest updates, you could choose to Incinerate your files. But it doesn't end there. Then imagine that face that you chose, being crumpled, being shredded, or being abracadabraed and vanishing into pieces. That would allow you to forget that face effectively.

Once your done, you could close the folder, close My Documents, point your mouse to Start and click on Shut Down.

At last, the mind can sleep.

The Promise

I gave you my promise before I left,
that I'll share with you my secrets.
It will just be a couple of years,
some sunny and rainy days.

I know each day you walk alone,
and each day you lament your sadness.
But still I hope you remember
the promise I'll keep forever.

I just hope that on the day I return
from the civil war-ravaged country,
I won't be greeted by a pretender,
whose face I've never forgotten.

The Restaurant of Guangzhou Province*

For a long long time now, people have gone to the restaurants of Guangzhou Province in China, to taste century-old and extravagant cuisine. They have been famous for culinary breakthroughs and for uniques dishes involving snakes, snapping turtles, shark's fin, monitor lizard and now, donkeys..!?!? They said that donkey meat is better than horse or beef because it's all tender meat, no fat. But they also said that when you eat too much, you start to jerk, your legs start to involuntarily kick while you start to bawl "eehaw,eehaw".

The chinese millionaires and billionairs for that matter, frequent this famous Guangzhou restaurant, which is centuries old. They go there especially during Christmas, and treat their whole family to the unique, and exquisite meals (expensive too) that they have to offer. One day it is said, the customers who have commented and praised the owner of the famous Guangzhou restaurant for over twenty years, would like to praise him again for such splendid meals! They asked the waiter to call upon the other. But the waiter said "I'm sorry, but he is not here at the moment". The customers were baffled, they've always seen the owner for the past years and felt it was quite odd that at this time he no longer was here. The waiter then said that he will ask the cook instead, if he might know. The cook went out and spoke to the customers "I'm sorry but the owner is no longer here". The customers asked again impatiently. The cook replied "The meal you have just enjoyed was our new specialty... you have just eaten our owner".

Apparently, the cook had a disagreement with the owner. He was actually annoyed because the owner kept busying him with buying stuff in the market. So the cook decided, enraged with so much hate and impatience - to chop him up into pieces.

(The famous restaurant of Guangzhou province, which was all well known for such exquisite, extravagant, and adventurous dishes, apparently also works its way up the ranks of higher species in the animal kingdom... !?!?)

*This story is fictitious.

Back Street Dorks

A good friend showed me this crazy video. haha. funny.

Download the Video

Deep Water

I'd rather stay here
where it's comfortable, dry - safe
and spend the day, watching
instead of going with you to fish.

Why can't you fish by the shore?
I'd go with you if you would.
That way I could soak my feet
on the rocky, white sand.

You have a long rod anyway.
You'd probably catch your big fish
while your placed solid on the shallow water
But if you decide not to, I still won't come.

Proud

I was about to go to sleep, when I decided to check at what was happening in my high school through their website. I was surprised to see that they have a new website design and it had flash graphics, great colors, very very very nice!

I thought at first that they probably changed everything and threw away the site that I created, but they kept it! they just refined it, concretized it/formalized it, and made it even more attractive, easier navigation etcetera...and I was even happier when I found my name at the footer or bottommost part of the pages - "Site initially conceived by Eric Smith" - that brought me great pride and acknowledgement.

You take a look at the Photo galleries > Students in Action, and I'm at the last picture, waiting to be beheaded or just cuffed in a wooden block thingi in the American west hehe. Give it a visit one of these days:

Cebu International School (www.cis.edu.ph)

You Walked Alone

I saw you as you looked determined to getting home
Below the leaves, against the cold breeze.
I watched you from my vantage
With your bag and books, alone.

And as you walked alone,
You bit your lip, your bangs wavered across your forehead.
Until you turned your Yellow back,
and I watched your footsteps, one after the other
leading you further away.

But the breeze no longer came at your direction.
It was instead the rush of workers, afraid of the Bell
coming at every direction. Your Brown slippers
pushing them all aside, and leading your way.

I watched you from my vantage point.
Your Yellow back, met Blue, White and Red
and your Brown slippers met Green, Black and Grey.
You wavered to the left then went below the shade.

Further down the road, you were determined to getting home.
Alone, you made it through the crowd, as I watched you
from my seat and saw the Yellow turn to Grey,
your Brown slippers, marching, leading you away.

Fading Away

The reddish color of my shirt
was once red as the ribbons on a chocolate box
it was once as red as the petals of those roses,
as red as the tangy sour candy i used to buy.

I guess it's because i've been wearing it too much
and it gets into the rough hands of the cleaners
too often, and starts turning into a shade of pink
or some bastarded color of red.

To get to the point, it wasn't as red as I liked it:
it didn't give that feeling - it wasn't pure anymore
i'd be shyed away wearing it, it turned pinkish
dirty with all the traces of white.

I wish there was some kind of reddish tee dye
which would stay permanent, so that I could
muster up the confidence of wearing the red shirt
again, and I'd be able to love it for always.