Panangaro

By Virginia J. Pasalo

 

I heard the first chirp of an early bird today at 4:54 a.m., after having greeted a friend,” Happy Birthday!” Birthdays are happy occasions especially when one is blessed with health and love.

The other day, I had lunch with a couple who are as blessed, in their eighties, still actively writing textbooks, in preparation for their old age!

“Huwag naman sanang hanggang isang daan. We do not expect to live that long.” (Hope we won’t live till a hundred.)

“Last week, the mother of Susan died at 99. She was lucid until her death. Knowing her mother, I think she chose the time to stop breathing.”

“I am not afraid to die. I am afraid to have Alzheimer’s. She did the right thing, Gie, choosing when to stop the breath.”

The husband, quietly listening to our conversation, smiled.

“That is not for us to decide, is it? God chooses when to take it. With love, we were given the breath, and with love, the breath will be taken away.”

 

Akar

immakar lay baim
ed dalan ya ambilunget
paunla ed liwawa
kaiba ray bitewen

nanpanis nen kabuasan
tan pinuolan to ‘ra ‘ma’y amagan bulong
et samay asewek simmayaw
ed sanga sanga na kiew
ya intanem to nen saman ni
nen immunan angaro
ed si lakim

 

Walk

your grandmother had left
through the darkness
into the light
to be among the stars

she swept this morning
and burned the dried leaves
whose smoke danced
through the limbs of the trees
she planted very long ago,
when she first fell in love
with your grandfather.

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