LRT

Sumakay ako sa tren,

Sumakay ka rin,

Tila magtatagal ang lakbayin,

Salamat at ika'y kapiling.

Tayo'y sakay ng tren na 'di mahulaan,

May mga istasyon na tinitigilan,

Na dapat palampasin at lagpasan,

Kung hangad marating ang paroroonan.

Mabagal man yaring pag-usad,

Tayong dalawa pa ri'y mapalad,

Dahan-dahan ma't 'di kaagad,

Alam natin kung sa'n mapapadpad.

Atin munang tanawin ang mga ulap,

Ngayong mas malapit tayo sa alapaap,

Sa dinaraana'y magpakasayang ganap,

Sa mga biyayang noo'y isang pangarap.

Malayo pa ba? Ilang istasyon pa?

Hindi ko alam, wala akong ideya,

'Di ko na rin bibilangin pa,

Sa 'yong tabi'y 'di dama ang distansya.

Nang walang anu-ano'y huminto sa alanganin,

Sa kisapmata'y tila pinigil ng hangin,

Sa ingay ng pasahero'y sumabay ka na rin,

Para bang hangad mo na itong lisanin.

Nakakatakot -- ako'y nangangamba,

Ngunit 'di sa paghinto tinamaan ng kaba,

Sa susunod na istasyo'y waring bababa ka na,

Lilimutin na ba ang bawat salita?

Sa dami ng nagsiksika't nag-unahan,

Mapalad lahat ng narito't lulan,

Ngunit hawak mo ang iyong isipan,

At pusong mag-uutos na ako'y iwanan.

Katulad ng iba, ika'y may karapatan,

Kung aalis ka na'y mauunawaan,

Maiwan man akong mag-isa't luhaan,

Pagka't 'di ka sumama sa dulo ng daan.

Tren ng pag-ibig ay humihinto pala,

'Di dahil may sasakay o may bababa,

'Di dahil may estasyon o wala,

At kadalasan, ika'y mabibigla.

Hindi man handa'y susubukang gumawa,

Ng paraan para tuluyan kang mapalaya,

Kung aalis ka'y hindi na aalma,

Paalam mahal ko, paalam na.

Limutin mo ma'y hindi tatalikdan,

Itong tren na minsan tayong nilulan,

Ang pighati't kabiguang ito'y lilipas sa kalaunan,

Ngunit 'di ang 'yong bakas sa riles ng aking kasaysayan.

[March 2013]

Dear September

"I've been spending the last eight months thinking all love ever does is break and burn and end. But, on a Wednesday, in a cafe, I watched it begin again." -Taylor Swift, Begin Again

Love is the nearest thing to heaven but loving someone who does not know how to love can pull you down to the lowest place in hell even if you do not deserve to be there.

She, who was once imprisoned by the evils, can still feel the heat that burned her illusions of having a fairytale-like life. The demons were roaring and laughing at her hopelessness. Her sweat was falling, from time to time, with her tears.

It was hot in hell, yes.

Good thing, that was a long time ago. The angels went down and took her to a paradise without a lover but with the presence of love. The sun brightened up; letting her discern the truth that his erstwhile partner is not the world but only a portion. The rainbow showed up and colored the black and white town of her dreams. God, most of all, pulled the tattered edges of her soul together again.

However, though the parcels of chagrin, rues and loneliness are only in her mind right now, far away from any corner of her heart, she believes that she must not give her trust to a man afresh. It should lie peacefully in her locked drawer -- be sheltered from all those blokes who have no other intention but to receive love without knowing how to appreciate the sender, be kept away from the lads who do not deserve the loving touch of a lass.

But, he is different.

He was, he is, and will always be different, she believes.

He is better than all the other men that she has met. He knows how to love without being aware of such capability. He has a heart of gold even if he perceives it as something which is made of the hardest type of stone. It is amazing how he manage to show the people around him his care while believing that he cannot do anything good.

Days passes, she continues to heed to his tales of long ago. It did not take her long to fathom that not all blokes are alike for the man beside her is utterly different.

He was, he is, and will always be different, she believes.

He is someone who does not deserve poison from the pangs of pain. He is not the one who should be embraced by the cruelty of selfish love -- as he deserves the altruistic kind. He is a true person and ropes of sand are not for him to keep.

Yes, she believes, he was, he is, and will always be different.

Now, she understands that not all the glitters coming from the stars are false scintillas. He is not one of those dead stars; the ones that are glittering in front of us when it does not even exist by the time when its light reaches our eyes.

He is a true, wonderful creature. He is more than ordinary -- even more than special. Perhaps, there are lads around her that are too innocent to be perceived as miscreants in the kingdom of affection.

Love is the nearest thing from heaven, she realized, but it will never pull you down to the lowest place in hell. Love is never cruel, some people are. Those folks who do not understand the meaning of love are.

He was, he is, and will always be different, she believes.

She looks at him. She is in love once more.

She is in love with him.

From a distant place, somehow, the angels sing.

"For the first time, what's past is past."

***

2013

Inspired by Taylor Swift's Begin Again

Photo credit: rebloggy.com and keki-chan702.deviantart.com