By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo   THERE are many things I have learned, skills that I can command to this day. However, like my friends Teresita de Venecia (Tess) and Armi Bangsal, I haven’t learned how to drive. I tried but ended up confusing left and right, and ended up driving…

By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo   FOR most, long-distance relationships (LDRs) don’t last. But there are success stories. I know some who met only several times and spent long years sustaining it. I know others, especially overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) whose marriages and relationships prevailed, despite so many challenges in between….

By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo   TODAY, I flow with the wind sweeping the green fields, enveloped by the mist along NLEX and TPLEX. Sitting by the window, I sense the sun, trying to break through the thick layers of overlapping clouds, and trees, whose identities blur in the speed of…

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,…