Category: Poems

Miracle Monday

It’s Monday. I had plans. But my rearview mirror decided it was time to make the plunge.

I found it hanging on my car’s ceiling, unwilling to stick back on the windshield.

So I leave it be, and ask a friend to give me a ride.

My friend gladly said “Yes,” oh what joy!

But alas, her car gets a flat tire!

The culprit: a tiny screw lodged on the rubber wheel, so tiny but oh so powerful.

“Why oh why does this happen,” I silently lament, “on a Monday?”

Yet heaven smiles and bestows me a blessing: another ride, this time it’s all smooth sailing.

So, finally home,

I take a break and sit down to eat salmon, potatoes and a green salad.

Hungry and hot, I eat in haste and then I stop.

It’s Monday.

a time to pause –

breathe deeply and pray,

be thankful that all things are working out.

Miracles still abound,

and my unfinished salad is waiting to be savored, each bite

a blessing.

Dad’s Stories

No one else will tell Dad’s stories –

of carabaos fighting,

he, surviving

caught in between locked horns.

… a pot of rice

rolling down the hill,

cooked, caked

rice escaping,

Japanese soldiers laughing,

one life spared,

the tragicomedy

of war.

…trekking up

the mountains of Maasin

with a few worldly goods

and St. Teresa of Avila’s bust

wrapped in a cloth.

No one else will tell Dad’s stories

Unless I do

to a new generation of survivors

in this fighting, divided world.

I have to tell Dad’s stories!

They are Dad’s whispers

of hope.