By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo

 

THE weather bulletin from PAGASA announced that severe tropical storm Paolo (Matmo) is expected to make landfall over Isabela or northern Aurora today, Friday morning, October 3. Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal No. 3 was hoisted in several parts of Luzon as Paolo developed into a severe tropical storm being monitored inside the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR), and is expected to intensify while over the Philippine Sea.

Right now, in Quezon City, the branches of trees are dancing as the birds flee to more stable perching grounds, some of them hiding behind the pillars at the roof deck. The clouds are dark and unmoving, and the whimsical rain brushes on the leaves, but not as strongly as a typhoon would normally do. It is more like a fluttering kiss, not settling on the cheek, but blown, pushed towards another destination.

Today, Florangel Rosario Braid (Ache Flor), a friend whose soul sways with poetry and music, will host the “October Poetry Reading” for the four of us who confirmed: Calle Manu, Connie Lopez-Madarang and myself. Farah Decano will try to come, but that was before typhoon Paolo arrived and likely to pass through Dagupan City, where she resides. The event is important to Ache Flor, like she hears the poems and the songs in her ears, long before we are able to sit and read. And that concerns me because the winds of Paolo are here and there’s no telling if it will escalate into raging madness, like another Paolo.

Although Metro Manila is not directly hit, Paolo is creating unwanted movements in its peripheral pathways, enough to scare people from venturing into the streets, which, with very little rain, can flood EDSA causing a traffic nightmare. On top of that, there will be thunderstorms and monsoon rains at about 5:00 pm. The reading is at 6:00 pm.

What is more important during these simple gatherings is the bonding we have nurtured consistently, sharing our thoughts, participating in the process of rebuilding a country gnawed away by rapacious family dynasties and corrupt bureaucracies. I was looking forward to Calle Manu’s original composition on the current scandalous corruption, with his usual bent on socio-political issues. I was looking forward to view Ache Flor’s paintings on the same subject. Connie and I are eager to share our poems on the socio-political and economic thunderstorm that continues to raze our country to the ground. We are eager to be together, despite the thunderstorm.

The rhymes of the times

the song did not appear
to rhyme all the time
sometimes it is in agony
sometimes it is in ecstasy
sometimes hitting high notes
sometimes hitting low notes
sometimes dropped as a ripple
sometimes shouted in a storm

now, the song is flat
at rest, without movement
unable to hit the highest notes
unable to crawl to the lowest notes
it is not a song, it is a dirge
decomposing