By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo   EACH time I visit Dagupan, Gwen makes sure I stay in a room with a view of the Pantal River. I remember in the evening of 29 November 2023, I saw a beautiful moon dance in the water from Room 431, inspiring a poem, Descent….

By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo   THE poem Asawa (Pupok ti Kapia) was inspired by Cage of Peace, one of the paintings of Belgian surrealist artist René François Ghislain Magritte, known for his provocative “depictions of familiar objects in unfamiliar, unexpected contexts”. My interpretation of his work was based on the…

By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo   I opened the veranda to see the sky and the mountains below it. It was still dark, and the tall trees covered a portion of the lights that dotted the mountains. They have grown so tall, the trees, allowing only a view of the sky….

By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo   I’M moving. At least most of the things I treasured. It took a year to contemplate on the decision. My mind was almost ready, but my body dragged. I can recall transition points in my life, but not the physical movement of things. They were…

By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo   SHE is gone. I grieve for the loss of a very good friend. I don’t know how long grief lasts, but it comes with the memories of pain and joy. I have selected some poems inspired by her over our long journey together. Salute to…

By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo    “I love you!” is too loosely said these days. Some say it and mean it. Others say it without thinking. It is sometimes shortened to “Lab u!”, when one is rushing, quickly ending a conversation. “I love you!” used to be sacred, intimate, shared on…

By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo   NO matter how you will it, there will always be something you can no longer avoid. Times have changed, but practices are ingrained over a long period of time, and the bureaucracy refuses to budge. It reminds me of Sisyphus. Sisyphus, according to Greek mythology,…

By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo   EIGHTY-six percent of the 119 million population (2024) of the Philippines are Catholic.  The country is the only other place, aside from the Vatican City State (population 825), where divorce is not legal. The proposed law is being opposed by the Catholic Church, not necessarily…

By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo   THE first stories I heard about Barbara “Tweetums” Gonzalez-Ventura were from an equally vibrant personality, the late Josefina Geslani-Lolarga, who spoke glowingly about her book, “How Do You Know Your Pearls are Real?” I never read this book. In 2011, I was a member of…

By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo   YESTERDAY, I dragged my foot to go the SM North to buy a hose connector. It was six o’clock, traffic was not bad, and public transport was easy, despite the fact that most workers would be going home around that time. I found what I…