Wanderlust

Flickering light, rattling rusty steel bars, gust of wind dark as night, smell of hell, suffocating sight, I know i'm just on a Jeepney running fast.

Sonnet to a Mother Sweet-scented robes that fold Wrapped your snow white sole, no woman will surpass the beauty you hold; Your eyes behold by every man. Children adore you with May flowers that filled the air with fragrance Nor Venus, her beauty nor Athena's wisdom can exceed your puissance In your womb the Redeemer without sins Mother of the sacrificial sheep Who shed blood for our sins When my angel summoned me to the dead please, Mother, stay and pray beside my bed

Leaning on the car glass window that separated us from the smoke of Marikina City's traffic, I stared at a familiar building... A while ago I was playing in Marikina Sports Center. Just across the road is the E. Rodriguez Memorial Hospital. Twenty-three years ago, as my mom told me on one of our bedtime stories, at this same date and that same hospital she (my mom)- with my father was one of that hospital patients. My mother was giving birth to her firstborn son. After a day of laboring, I was born... Who could tell that after 23 long years that fragile, little and weak baby will come back and will play in the sports center just across the hospital where he had his first gasp of air??

           Teaching English is a booming business. Many English Academies sprung up in the many parts of the archipelago. No wonder many are attracted to this promising career – thought our teachers in school tell us that no one gets rich in teaching. My friend who is a nurse told me that, if she had known that English teacher will be in demand, she would have taken education, not nursing.            Skyrocketing unemployment rate in the Philippines urges some to try this job even though, teaching is not really their profession, e.g. Nurses, Engineers, Tourism, etc. Maybe for some, teaching English and being an English teacher is a good chance to earn a decent salary.            I have been teaching English for over two years now and I can say that I love my work. It’s not the alluring income plus the bonus of meeting foreigners that keep me in this kind of job. Although I must admit that I need money but it never becomes my ONLY motivation to stay. Ever since, I