RENGA: Breaking a Thoroughbred

Unraced thoroughbreds are difficult to break
nonetheless, she resolved to be on top of the situation...

She was an equestrian
guiding her mount through the fences,
taking control of the reins
moving in unison with the steed.
She squeezes her legs and feels him move in between her thighs
---springing to life, ready for action .

That primal instinct unleashed, the stallion charges,
breezing through the barriers.
She rocks with him with each gallop,
thrusting forward and pulling the bit just enough
for him not to bear out.

Fluid and seamless,
Hers was a learned and oft-repeated dance
performed to the thunderous tempo of hoofbeats;
slick with sweat she drives harder, strides faster
until bursts of white heat take them both to the stars.

It was a play of brute force that always ended
in sweet surrender.

(C) August 19, 2005

I never think of the future - it comes soon enough. - Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955)

Calligraphy Of Desire

My velvet brush dips deep and lingers there
in the warm inkwell of your endless desire
the ink of passion flows for me tonight
so I may show you how It feels my muse
to be so truly needed by an ardent lover

I hunger to write poems of love's power
upon the warm supple parchment of your skin
secret words that only you can comprehend
till my brush runs dry and I return to dip again
in ink made by god for the calligraphy of desire

(C) Jheric A. Saracho
April 27, 2005

Track No. 20 of Ora Poetika, a recording of poetry readings released by Pinoypoets. Available June 28 @ Conspiracy Garden Cafe.

I never think of the future - it comes soon enough. - Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955)

A Whole New World

(Note: I was browsing through my files over the weekend and I saw this feature article that I wrote way back in 2002 to promote a client's corporate social responsibility project.)

Does the title remind you of something? Well, it’s the theme from the movie “Aladdin” but this story is not about some Arabian boy or a genie in an old lamp. This is about how a girl’s, and her friends, lives were changed…

It has become a familiar scene in our society. Everywhere you look, you see little kids running alongside vehicles, either begging or selling rags, flowers, etc. Some of them even make the streets their home, living under bridges or on the sidewalks. The street is just one big playground for them.

This was the life of our little heroes. They were just like other kids their age, playing in the streets and helping their family put food on the table by selling rags.

Crystal, 10 years old, used to sell rags made by her mother. After her parents separated, she lived with her grandparents. Her siblings are with her dad and her mom lives somewhere in Rizal. Her grandfather drives a cab to support the whole family and send little Crystal to school. She wants to be a nurse so she can help other kids like her.

Jawo, 11, is in Grade V and sells balut near their place nightly. His parents left him in the care of cousins. He doesn’t know where they are now and he has no wish of seeing them again. Like his namesake, he wants to be a basketball star when he grows up.

Also a former street vendor is 15-year-old Beb. When his father died, his mother took him to the province where he developed his running skills and finished his elementary studies. He is now in second year high school and serves as an acolyte during masses.

They are just some of the kids under the care of the Laura Vicuña Center in Sta. Mesa. The center, a four-storey structure with sprawling grounds, cares for about 80 kids daily. Everyday after school, Crystal, Jawo and Beb drop by the center. There, they get to interact with other kids, playing games or musical instruments. They also attend catechism classes conducted by the nuns at the center. Then they eat dinner with their friends. They also get transportation money so they can visit the center the following day.

The kids say they like the life at the center with the other kids. Crystal says she easily gets bored when she’s at home so she goes to the center to liven up her day. Beb says that unlike before when he just hangs around in the streets with his friends, he now serves as a sakristan at the Don Bosco chapel. He says that although his schedule is tighter now with school and church work, he still prefers life at the center compared to his life before when he used to walk the streets of Manila. Being a sakristan, he acts as a kuya to the younger kids and helps the volunteers at the center in keeping discipline among the young ones. Jawo, the budding hoop idol, says he enjoys playing with his friends and attending mass at the center.

The kids all go to school, because they want to help their families escape from the clutches of poverty. The foundation provides them educational assistance to ensure they stay in school and blossom into productive members of society.

Sr. Marivic Sta. Ana, directress of the Laura Vicuña Center says, “We at the foundation feel that it is only through education that we would be able to take them out of the streets and mold them into productive members of society.”

Working hand in hand with the Laura Vicuña Foundation is Caltex Philippines, through the Caltex Fund Street-to-School Programme, a scholarship program aimed towards caring and rehabilitating street children. The Caltex Fund was started in 1999 with two Metro Manila-based foundations: Tuloy sa Don Bosco Foundation and the Laura Vicuña Foundation. Its initial kitty: one million pesos.

The fund is designed to teach and equip disadvantaged children such as our little heroes with skills they can use to uplift their lives and move away from their dependence on welfare institutions.

Crystal, Jawo and Beb… ordinary kids with big dreams. But their dreams cannot be achieved if we don't share and help build a whole new world for our disadvantaged friends.

by: Jheric A. Saracho, 10-17-02

I Cannot Imagine

In my heart, I cannot imagine...
The winter without an early snow,
The spring without her burst of vibrant colors,
The summer without the sea
and the warmth of the sand beneath my feet.
The autumn leaves scattering hues of gold,
covering the earth as a warm blanket of down,
waiting gracefully, patiently for winter's return.

I cannot imagine a bird without song,
A morning without sunrise,
An evening sky without a single star
...Or my life without you.

(C) Jheric A. Saracho
May 23, 2007

Speech Class

I watch your lips move
in slow-motion, forming vowels;
exquisite o's and u's.

A glimpse of tongue tip,
curled at the back of your teeth -
more inviting than your smile,
more than your hello.

I stir.

I'm rude, already thinking
of the dirty words
you'll call out, scratching exclamations
onto my back while I grunt
ellipsis points.

(C) Jheric Saracho
June 21, 2007

Photo of the Day: Well-spring

Taken last August 21 in Binondo. An attempt at low-light photography.

Photo of the Day: My Wife, My Life

This is for Cherry, my wife, on our sixth month as Mr. and Mrs. Saracho. Love you my baby!

Diamond

A diamond is the heart of love
sculpted of a blue rainbow and a dragon's heart;
it does not falter in finding its lost love.

Time cannot conceal
the flawless beauty of a diamond.
Its impurities simply a gift of love
its marred reflection, the true inner soul.

Struck from Godly beauty and the song of muses,
the diamond finds the finger of my love
and shines my image in her heart and soul.

In the gem cutter's wheel, the diamond is cut
with your timid beauty
etched on every facet of my soul
only to be released in the fires of passion.

The brilliant jewel of my heart releases
all hidden facets of my true passion;
creates the image of my love in eternal fire
and the ash and vapor of eternal nothingness.

A diamond remains forever in the heart of the maker.
The heavenly gift never to die,
even in the eternal flames of desire.

(C) Jheric A. Saracho
August 14, 2005

I never think of the future - it comes soon enough. - Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955)

P.E. Memories

Your face stirred a memory from my past tonight.

Lying in gym mats at the judo room, stretching our limbs almost at angles unimaginable to us, nerdy non-athletic types. How I relish those Wednesday sessions with Uy, knowing you'll be beside me in your gym shorts and white tank top. I'll be spotting you in doing your crunches - warming me up and making my muscles tense at the same time.

How I relish those Wednesday sessions with Uy, when the class would be doing Jane Fonda aerobics with me directly behind you. I love watching your butt cheeks squeeze as you try to reach your toes. And the way your tank top rides up to just below those twin peaks everytime we do our jumping jacks.

Exercise always made me sweat, but I never thought Physical Education would make me work and sweat this hard.

(C) Jheric A. Saracho
June 30, 2005

Photo of the Day: Rush

I never think of the future - it comes soon enough. - Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955)

In Your Arms (for Chie)

In your arms, my thoughts drift away
to a place all our own, and a lovelier day.
Lavender sunsets and skies of blue
ours to enjoy, just me and you.

In your arms, my only task would be
to make sure your kisses are just for me.
For every kiss - I'd give you four
and show you no one could love you more.

Then, just to prove we'd never part,
I'd wrap myself around your heart.
Melting together (as lovers do)
passion and pleasure beginning anew.

In your arms, you'd know by the look in my eyes
that I am yours- no more silly good-byes.
And all of our dreams would soon come true.
You belong to me, and I to you.

(C) Jheric A. Saracho
September 12, 2005

I never think of the future - it comes soon enough. - Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955)

Item No. 1 on my Christmas Wish List

This one automatically goes to the top of my Christmas wish list. Now I'm off to find a genie or fairy godmother who will grant my wishes.

Photo of the Day: Celebration

I never think of the future - it comes soon enough. - Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955)

Photo of the Day: Centerpiece

I never think of the future - it comes soon enough. - Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955)

Photo of the Day: Saigon Keeper

I never think of the future - it comes soon enough. - Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955)

God's Insight

God knew my heart was lonely, and needed company,
so He took a little look around, and sent you here to me.
He sent you here to cheer me up, to try and ease my pain,
to take and make me happier, and make me smile again.
To hold me, kiss and love me, and heal my broken heart,
To give me pleasant memories, for when we are apart.
My heart's now like a garden, that has just begun to grow,
and will soon be filled with flowers, from the kindness you did sow.
If you, by chance, should see Him, I wonder if you might
tell Him I said thank you, for having such insight.

(c) Jheric A. Saracho
March 30, 2007

I never think of the future - it comes soon enough. - Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955)