By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo   SUDDENLY, while walking, you can sense that someone is watching you from behind. You are tempted to look back, and you do, but no one seems to be looking. You continue to walk, that persistent feeling of being watched remains. Again, you are tempted to…

By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo   OVER the years, we encounter people, people we like more than others, and build a closer bond for many reasons. Some for the ideals they espouse, some for their charm, others for the way they are. In my life, there are those I considered very…

By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo   I was not supposed to be in this meeting. My tooth ached and my gums were inflamed. My face was swollen, like I just ate a female crab with all the red roe, prawns and other seafood I was allergic to, but addicted to them…

By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo   PLACES of refuge and safety can be found in special places in the mind, as well as spaces where we experience peace and renewal. Mine is both in my mind, the vast silence of the atmosphere, the energy of a forest bath, and little corners…

By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo   THE election is over. The winners had been proclaimed. For some it is a time to celebrate, for others to regain strength. Most of my friends are experiencing an extended hangover. “My candidate won! Who did you vote for? Aha, I know, you do not…

By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo   IMAGINATION, the capacity to create images or concepts that become palpable even in their absence, is the ally of those who wait incessantly for the situations they cherish. It is an indispensable friend, faithful to a fault, in the passage of time, where forgetting becomes…

By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo   A flood of light illuminates the garden. It is not the full moon as yet, but the intermediate Moon phase between the half moon and the full moon. The moonlight brushes through my skin gently, opening its pores. It teases the buds to open as…

By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo   ON Monday, we troop to the polling places to vote for many reasons. Others vote to move this country forward. Others vote to move themselves to positions of power. Others just respond to monetary stimuli.   The bougainvillea   the bougainvillea watches the road that…

By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo   PAIN is a dance in the bottomless pit of desire. There, in the abyss, the darkness becomes the music. It is where ghosts are roused from their sleep, take your hand to the dance floor and whirl your body in the air, unmindful of danger,…

By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo     I was told to use my head if I decide to love you but that is IF, if the decision is mine I know that it is not mine because I told myself not to love you and I still do, like I told…