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G Spot

Juxtaposition: The Philippines and the Vatican

By | G Spot

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…

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Juxtaposition: The Philippines and the Vatican

By June 9, 2024G Spot

Secrets of the Heart

By | G Spot

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…

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Secrets of the Heart

By June 2, 2024G Spot

Dragging

By | G Spot

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…

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Dragging

By May 26, 2024G Spot

The wheelchair

By | G Spot

By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo   THE image of her friend in a wheelchair bothers her. It is an image Enya had not gotten used to, having known Amira as a vibrant, cheerful woman, gifted with intelligence and a capacity to help the less fortunate. That image is somehow fading, being…

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The wheelchair

By May 12, 2024G Spot

Invisible you

By | G Spot

By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo   THIS poem was composed in 2015, for a friend who did everything for her husband who didn’t realize she existed. It is a poem for women who try so hard, without realizing they could be happier with a rubber shoes.   You will miss me…

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Invisible you

By May 6, 2024G Spot

Going, going, gone!

By | G Spot

By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo   THE heat is real. It can only get worse. What use are the parks if the heat prevents us from going there? Given the projections on the impact of climate change, protection and development of green spaces become imperative. Parks (including memorial parks), athletic ovals…

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Going, going, gone!

By April 28, 2024G Spot

Poetry and disconnect

By | G Spot

By Virginia Jamin Pasalo   A GOOD friend from Puerto Rico, Luz Maria Lopez, is publishing “a little book with selected poems in English” and requested me to write a very short simple blurb, around five lines. She wants me to do this because she says, I’m familiar with her…

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Poetry and disconnect

By April 20, 2024G Spot

Shorter days

By | G Spot

By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo   THE days are shorter, I believe, with each day ending without finishing as much task as before. Perhaps it’s the heat, perhaps it’s the burgeoning traffic, the sea of humans on the street, or maybe it’s my body’s declining capacity to cope with the usual…

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Shorter days

By April 14, 2024G Spot

Gardens, what happens when you’re gone?

By | G Spot

By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo   I MEAN, your garden, your personal planned space for the cultivation of plants including other forms of nature. What happens, after you’re gone? At Teachers Village where our family stayed for more than ten years at an 800 square meters of vacant space, I had…

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Gardens, what happens when you’re gone?

By April 8, 2024G Spot