PANG-AGDONG BUHAY

PANG-AGDONG BUHAY
www.weenweenreyes.blogspot.com

Gumuhit na ang 'yong hininga
sa salaming nakapagitan sa atin.
Nagmistulang ulap na dumungis
sa kanina'y malakristal na kalinisan.
Panay ang buka ng yong bibig
kahit walang nakikinig.
Nagpapaawa ang huwad mong titig.
Ang muwestra ng 'yong mga kamay,
tulad sa sanggol na nakalahad ,
at kami'y tuwang-tuwa sa natututuhan.
Ngunit ang sa yo'y di nakaaaliw.
Di ko maatim na sa bawat lunok ko'y
may tinging natatakam,
sa kabusugan, may nakatanghod
na tiyang kumakalam.
Habang kami'y sarap na sarap
nabilaukan ka na ng 'yong laway.
Humpak ang marungis mong pisngi't
labi mo'y tila binabad sa suka.
Gisi-gisi ang soot mo't malinis pa
ang basahang nasa bulsa ng pantalon
ng "crew" na nagsilbi sa amin.
Nagtampo na rin ang tsinelas mo't
perdible na ang umagapay.
Ipauubaya ko sana ang ilang subo,
Ngunit maraming matang lisik
at nanunuot ang mga titig
Kaya't ang kaninang gana ko'y
nawalang tuluyan.

Sinong may sala?
Ang inang pabaya o amang walang pangalan?
O ang bayang nagdamot ng yakap?
Hindi ang isang putos ng pagkain.
Hindi ang minsang panawid-gutom.
Hindi ang minsang pamatid-uhaw.
Sana isang buhay na busog at may dangal!

Weeween Reyes 2017
Larawan: Google

IKA-ANIM NA UTOS

IKA-ANIM NA UTOS
(Wag makikiapid)

Malayo na ang salipawpaw,
ngunit kahit gakuto na ang natatanaw
ang malilinggit na kamay
matyagang pa ring kumakaway.
Ganyan ang senaryo pagsibol ng araw
hanggang bago mamaalam at humalili ang buwan
Laging nasa durungawan, nakatunganga,
nakatungtong sa salumpuwit,
Upang umabot sa bintana't
bahagyang mahagip nang alik-mata
ang dumaraan sa himpapawirin.
Di mapatid ang humihikbing butil,
ang mata'y halos mabura sa kusot.
Nananaghoy, nagmamakaawa,
walang lakas ang boses na matinis,
ngunit umaasang marinig
ang maninipis nyang hiyaw,
kahit sandali, kahit sa hinagap.
Nakadagdag pa sa kirot
ang kapwa batang nakakunyapit sa leeg.
"Mabuti pa sila, may amang kumakarga".
Ang tingin n'ya'y may paninimbuso.
Isang damuhong batang dumaan,
ngising-asong nang-asar,
"walang tatay, walang tatay!"
Tudyo sa batang namamanglaw.
"Nagtrabaho sa malayo aking tatay!"
"Padadalhan nya ako ng maraming laruan!"
Ang paangil na sigaw.
Tuwing tutunog ang hatinig,
makipag-unahang sagutin
at maririnig ang kanyang mga hibik.
Ang pagsamo'y nakawawasak ng dibdib,
at ang patango-tangong walang katapusan,
kahit wala namang kausap. (wrong number)
Ang ina'y lumilipad ang diwa
habang nagwiwilig ng halaman,
kahit ito'y kagampan.
Ngunit nasaan?
Sinong aasahan?
Hanggang kailan tatagal
ang tinahi-tahing kasinungalingan?
"Pumuti man ang uwak, umitim ang tagak",
wala ang laruang kanyang inaasam,
walang sasapong kandungan.
Ang hinihintay, tumugpa sa ibang bahay.
Ang piloto'y naligaw.

Weeween 2017
Larawan: Google

HALINDIOG

HALINDIOG
www.weenweenreyes.blogspot.com

Una, pangalawa, pangatlo'y nalagot.
Ang madla'y napatda, noo'y nangagngunot
Nasaksihang tagpo ay kalunos-lunos,
napuyog sa luha't lugami sa takot.

Ang katotohanang inukit ng dugo,
dagli'y sumambulat lihim na hinampo.
Isang kasaysayang muling magpakulo
Bubulwak ang init, liyab nya ay sugo.

Kahimanawaring tingin ay luminaw.
Mga pipi't bingi sa mga palahaw.
Bawat alingawngaw katumbas ay buhay.
Oh! Inang bayan ko. Sinong susulingan?

At muling babalik multo ng kahapon.
Kaluluwang buhay muli ay babangon!

Weeween Reyes 2017
Larawan: Google

ALL ABOUT PARENTING

ALL ABOUT PARENTING
(Please read)
www.weenweenreyes.blogspot.com

Rearing children is a tough task. It is not as simple as getting a job in line with our profession or having a job that needs skills, or sometimes a job we have no knowledge at all and yet we can be trained. Rearing children needs all our prowess, intellect, skill, love and protection, patience, understanding and all that. We have to support the physical, emotional, social, and intellectual development of a child from infancy to adulthood. It’s not always fun. Sometimes we’ll eat our heart out with the tremendous household chores that we have to attend to plus our little kids to take care of. At times we have to be firm and true to our words or we'll wake up one day, they don’t believe in what we say anymore.

From infancy, we take good care of them so delicately, so careful that we almost consume most of our times for them. Not even the mosquitos could get near and bite as we say. Sleepless nights are negligible, not worrying anymore our eye bags which we were so conscious of before. Not anymore minding our figures. What’s important is we have food in our stomach so we’ll have enough milk for our babies and be happy to breast feed thinking that it is the best we could offer to them.

My husband and I had a good compromise to combat the hardship of waking up at night. We had an agreement that who discovers first if our child’s diaper was wet will be the one to change it. If you’re a good parent, you should be responsible enough to check if your child is wet or not, every time you wake up in the middle of the night. And being good fathers, you have to take part. You should have a good share of the difficulties being incurred by mothers. As it is a fact that mothers have to breast feed babies every time they wake up at night, crying, looking for mama’s nipple. Mothers are just like “7-11 Store”, we are 24 hours open☺. At times that they need medical attention, be ready, or your hearts break. And you will wish you get sick and not your child.

Parents should see to it that infants have a complete vaccination, right starter food after few months, boiled egg, boiled carrots, and potatoes, not junks, not soft drinks, not powder juices. Give a quick bath regularly every day. Sponge bath will do if not feeling well. Hospitals teach mothers how to bathe their babies. If not, ask the veterans, best is your mother. Morning sun is a good source of Vitamin D for 15-20 minutes before eight in the morning to avoid exposure to ultra violet light, but your child should wear a comfortable, light suit. This is so important especially to newly born who has jaundice (baby's skin and whites of the eyes look yellow).

I don’t believe in the saying that a baby who always cries will have a good voice. We are just allowing their tantrums to develop. Babies who always cry have problems that parents should discover. No baby will cry if he is contented, happy and well fed. No baby will feel discomfort if his diaper is dry and clean. If his surrounding is cool, tidy, colorful and peaceful. No baby will be uneasy if he is in good health and is taken care of and loved.

But it doesn’t stop from here. Taking care of them goes throughout in their nursery years, kinder years, elementary, high school and up to college (that’s how we address the level of education in our times, now I’m confused), until they are ready to face the chaos of the world. Even in their teens, where crushes and first love start to grow, parents should give more attention to their children. This is the stage of confusion in love and for being an adult.

As they grow, our kind of discipline should vary too. Parents should also grow with their kids. I was a hands-on and loving mother when they were infants, a patient, and loving mother when they were kinder, a strict and loving mother in their teens, a friend, strict mother in their college and a friend and good consultant in love and in life now that they are matured.

I was the strict kind of a mother back home and my better-half is the cool father image so when the going gets tough, they have someone to run to. We always see to it that we have time to talk to them about topics under the sun. Sometimes we have arguments but things are patched up at once. We don’t yell at each other, We don’t allow that, and shouting when angry is not being tolerated. we also trained them not to let neighbors hear their cries and their angry voices. For us, they're so undignified.

Once a child finishes a career and finds a good job and a good partner, that’s the time that parents are less worried about their children. And when they start to build a family of their own means retirement to our obligation as parents, only that we should still be around if possible to give some bits of advice and service if they so need them. But we must give them space, the chance to be on their own, to uncover what should be uncovered in life in their own way. We should avoid insisting our old school thing as they are in a different generation with a different approach to parenting.

Like what our parents did, let us leave everything to the good Lord. He will take care of them, but let’s continue praying for them. They have angels too assigned by God who will always be at their side. If we have survived, they too will survive.

Weenterella 2017
Photo: Google

A+K+O

A+K+O
www.weenweenreyes.blogspot.com

Kaylupit mo pag-ibigDati-ratiy kay tigib
Pagmamahal ay labis
Nang magising ay pait.

Tulad ng isang dahon
Napigtal nang lumaon
Kahit di pa panahon
Ay tuluyang nalooy.

Ngunit babangon akong
Nakataas ang noo
Kukulayan ang mundo
Upang muling mabuo.

Ako.

Weenterella 2017
Larawan: Aine's album

OH, PAG-IBIG!

OH, PAG-IBIG!
www.weenweenreyes.blogspot.com

Oh, buwang marikit, kaibigang hirang!
Ang samo ko sa 'yo nawa ay pakinggan.
Puso'y tumitibok, di na mapigilan;
Tanging isang dilag itong kasagutan.

Wari ay nabihag ng ngiting kaytamis;
Noong masilayan, nahaling nang labis.
Hindi na maawat, pagkat kinikilig;
Kusang pumipitlag yaring nasa dibdib.

Halina at ako'y samahang dumalaw;
Minsan isang gabing iyong kabilugan.
Habang hinahandog ang wagas kong pakay;
Ang hiram mong sinag, ilaw naming tanglaw.

Nang kanyang mabatid taos kong pagsinta;
Nawa'y matugunan marubdob kong pita!

Weeween Reyes 2017
Larawan: google

NARDO

REMEMBER NARDO?
www.weenweenreyes.blogspot.com

It was a bit busy day that afternoon practicing for our school program. After class, I started walking along the road outside the premises to go home when suddenly it rained. The cold, gentle pouring gave me a good relief as it strummed my face. But it was not a solace to another person roaming alone from morning till afternoon with his big sack, filled with what-not there but anything that would be of benefit to his family.

Yes, if anyone still remembers Nardo, he was the man in his soiled clothing who went house to house in Odiongan for any amount or anything that they could afford to give. As far back as I can remember, some fifty years ago, Untay was ahead of Nardo. I was still a kid when Untay was around, while with Nardo, I was already in my teens. They were two normal people with one common interest, to ask for alms to feed their families. Nardo's look is still on my mind. He was thin and maybe 5'7" in height, and dirty and with an impassive facial expression as if he carries the weight of the world on his shoulder. He didn’t even know how to smile.

UnlikeUntay, Nardo has his own style. When he walks, he drags his other foot like that of a lame man and moves more slowly to look sickly and pathetic, his reason why he’s not able to work for a living and so instead he asks for alms. But a gossip circulated during our time saying that when he's home, he walks normally.

Nardo always had with him a big sack over his shoulder just like Untay, but his was bigger. And he accepted clothes and anything useful as long as he can carry them all. People like Untay and Nardo were harmless creatures of the earth. Who knows, they may be little, big angels of the Lord. We don’t even know if they were sent by God to test how we fare with the less fortunate people.

I consider them angels because they took care of their families, fed them and provided their needs to the best they could battling the tiring daily long walks and the scorching heat of the sun and sometimes rain to ask for alms in nearby towns and so they can’t be identified. They still have a little pride left in their body. As I remember them, one thing came into my mind. If I am not mistaken, Nardo did not only feed his offspring, he sent his children to college as well.

Personally, I don't like the thought of giving alms to the poor. For me, we are tolerating them to become lazy and irresponsible, harebrained. But I feel guilty if I don't give anything too. That's human nature. We like to be superheroes to the needy. And we feel good after helping, rather than not. But that doesn’t make them better persons but the opposite, maybe or maybe not.

Wherever they are now, one thing is sure, they were people with a heart who knew how to love and care for the family they built feeding them in any manner as long as it was not earned badly…and who can say that asking for alms is bad, and who are we to judge? “for there is no man who does not sin”. “Indeed, there is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins”. “THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE”.😄

UNTAY ANG NGALAN N'YA

UNTAY ANG NGALAN N'YA
www.weenweenreyes.blogspot.com

Ipagpapalagay kitang isang nanay,
ang iyong katulad isang mapagmahal.
Sumuba sa alon, mukha'y kinapalan,
handa kang magtiis nang sila'y mabuhay.

Bakit ka naganyak? Ganyan ay kay hirap.
Pagkat mga hangal ay mapahalakhak
Dungisin mong mukha, paang naglilipak,
mabahong suot mo'y may sangsang na hayag.

Kung saan nagmula, walang nakaalam.
Sumulpot sa bayang tila bulalakaw.
Isang patunay ngang may buo kang dangal,
kahit ang pulubi ay may kahihiyan.

Ang isang tulad mo'y hangaan bang dapat,
kung init ng araw at pagod ay sapat?
Kaysa ang magnakaw palimos ang hangad.
Katamarang taglay, kaya'y kulang-palad?

Ngunit sa lunan ko'y di ka malimutan,
pagkat nag-iwan ka ng tuwa at lumbay.
Sa aking kagaya na isa ring nanay,
isa kang ehemplo ng tatag at tibay.

Weeween Reyes 2017

THAT WOMAN NAMED UNTAY

“THAT WOMAN NAMED UNTAY”
www.weenweenreyes.blogspot.com


I was alarmed when I noticed that my lower extremities have red rashes for the past few months. And I blamed the mosquitos that might have attacked my legs while I was busy using my computer. In fact, I purchased big water-based Baygon multi-insect killer just for this purpose. But later on, I realized that it was not really the fault of the mosquitos that I was thinking of. The culprits for this allergic reaction in my skin are my leggings which are all fitted in the lower extremities, thus the allergy started. And I never use any other house clothes every day but these leggings.

To cut the long story short, I ended up looking for my dresses which for quite some time were kept in my closet. I picked a red one but I found it unruly, so I told my husband that I have to iron it since if I don’t, I will look like Untay. And he asked. “Who is Untay?” "Wait, I have to draw her because it's difficult to describe," was my response. And my eagerness to show the image of Untay to my better-half drew my desire to the peak remembering yesterday the video of the charcoal drawing I saw from an FB friend Leo A. Caisip. And where on earth have I thought that I can draw, especially in this age of mine nearly facing the sun to set? But I took the first pencil I saw, and scratch papers and started sketching Untay. And I found that great feeling with the desire to express in my sketches the woman I saw when I was just a kid asking for alms around the town proper, my hometown, Odiongan. But I pity her when I was a child, not because she was mediocre as I still don’t understand that before, but because she was so untidy and skinny. In fact, I was also afraid of her.  Though I haven't got the chance to talk to her personally, she had a soft spot in my heart that some memories of her still linger in my mind until to date.

But who knows? Untay might pave the way to my long-cherished dream…. my wildest dream and that is to be an artist, though I really not have tried. Why not? Anyway, dreams are free. Let’s dream high. Let’s start dreaming higher. It’s not too late!

TAHI-TAHING PANGARAP

TAHI-TAHING PANGARAP
www.weenweenreyes.blogspot.com

Gusto kong angkinin ang araw at langit
at ang bahaghari'y maging duyang saglit.
Tayo'y maglalakbay, daa'y panaginip,
at sa alapaap bumuong pag-ibig.

Ialay na kwintas ang mga bituin,
kaygandang palawit ay buwang maningning.
Gintong bulalakaw ang gagawing singsing,
higanteng buntala, pulseras ng giliw.

Tayo'y lalambitin sa guhit tagpuan,
upang abot-tanaw ating Amang mahal.
At baka sakaling taimtim na dasal,
kapagka nahabag, ang anghel lilitaw.

Sana kahit minsan itong bulaylay,
pangarap mang gising maging totohanan.

Weeween Reyes 2017
Larawan: Google