Hoobastank- Still remains to be the question

Figured to share this post- a really cool one from Hoobastank- Running away. Check out the hard hittin' lyrics and ice cool video below. Cheers for the taking!

Running Away
Hoobastank

I don't want you to give it all up
And leave your own life collecting dust
And I don't want you to feel sorry for me
You never gave us a chance to be
And I don't need you to be by my side
To tell me that everything's alright
I just wanted you to tell me the truth
You know I'd do that for you

So why are you running away?
Why are you running away?

Cause I did enough to show you that I
Was willing to give and sacrifice
And I was the one who was lifting you up
When you thought your life had had enough
And when I get close, you turn away
There's nothing that I can do or say
So now I need you to tell me the truth
You know I'd do that for you

So why are you running away?
Why are you running away?

Is it me, is it you
Nothing that I can do
To make you change your mind
Is it me, is it you
Nothing that I can do
Is it a waste of time?
Is it me, is it you
Nothing that I can do
To make you change your mind

So why are you running away?
Why are you running away?
...What is it I've got to say...

So why are you running away?
...To make you admit you're afraid...
Why are you running away?

Message in a Bottle

The Scribe: Read Cebu's news updates!

Here's another recommended read to get the latest news updates from Cebu and the rest of the Visayas- as seen from the eyes of the Freeman newspaper's Jasmin Uy.

Get to know what's happening in the metro and the latest infos from just about everything: politics, government, entertainment, media, music, entertainment and the latest buzz in the scene.

Pay a visit @ www.amatong.blogspot.com!

This is my promise: David Cook- Come back to me

Another inspiring tune from David Cook. "Come back to me" gives relevance to the afflicted and hurting...


Come Back to Me

David Cook

You say you gotta go and find yourself
You say that you're becoming someone else
Don't recognize the face in the mirror
Looking back at you

You say you're leavin
As you look away
I know theres really nothin left to say
Just know i'm here
Whenever you need me
I'll wait for you

So i'll let you go
I'll set you free
And when you see what you need to see
When you find you come back to me

Take your time i wont go anywhere
Picture you with the wind in your hair
I'll keep your things right where you left them
I'll be here for you

Oh and i'll let you go
I'll set you free
And when you see what you need to see
When you find you come back to me

And i hope you find everything that you need
I'll be right here waiting to see
You find you come back to me

I can't get close if your not there
I can't get inside if theres no soul to bear
I can't fix you i can't save you
Its something you have to do

So i'll let you go
I'll set you free
And when you see what you need to see
When you find you come back to me
Come back to me
So i'll let you go
I'll set you free
And when you see what you need to see
When you find you come back to me

And i hope you find everything that you need
I'll be right here waiting to see
You find you come back to me

When you find you come back to me
When you find you come back to me
When you find you come back to me

Message in a Bottle

A surge of emotion: David Cook's Permanent

One song from David Cook that moved me is "Permanent." Truly one good song to reflect and be inspired from.

Check out the lyrics and Youtube video below, featuring his American Idol 2009- Finale night performance.


Permanent
David Cook

Is this the moment where I look you in the eye?
Forgive my broken promise that you’ll never see me cry
And everything, it will surely change even if I tell you I won’t go away today

Will you think that you’re all alone
When no one’s there to hold your hand?
And all you know seems so far away and everything is temporary rest your head
I'm permanent

I know he’s living in hell every single day
And so I ask oh God is there some way for me to take his place
And when they say it’s all touch and go I wish I could make it go away
But still you say

Will you think that you’re all alone
When no one’s there to hold your hand?
When all you know seems so far away and everything is temporary, rest your head
I’m permanent
I’m permanent

Is this the moment where I look you in the eye?
Forgive my promise that you’ll never see me cry...

Message in a Bottle

More to lose: Chris Daughtry's version of Poker Face!

Chris Daughtry's version to the popsicle "Poker Face" rocks. The lyrics certainly come out and loop the message inside that rock head of yours. A combination of mush, crap and emotions will rendezvous in a rush.

Chris definitely has stolen this song and added with his enthrall- totally made it his own! Check out the lyrics and Youtube video below:

Poker Face
Chris Daughtry

I wanna hold em' like they do in texas plays
Fold em', let em' hit me, baby stay with me
Luck and intuition, play the cards with spades to start
And after she's been hooked I'll play the one that's on her heart

Oh, o-o-oh oh, o-o-o-o-o-oh
I'll get her hot, show her what I've got
(2x)

Can't read my, can't read my
No you can't read my poker face
(2x)

P-p-p-poker face, p-p-poker face
(2x)

I wanna roll with her, a hard pair we will be
A little gambling is fun when you're with me
Russian roulette is not the same without a gun
And baby when it's love, if its not rough it isn't fun

Oh, o-o-oh oh, o-o-o-o-o-oh
I'll get her hot, show her what I've got
(2x)

Can't read my, can't read my
No you can't read my poker face
(2x)

P-p-p-poker face, p-p-poker face
(4x)

Can't read my, can't read my
No you can't read my poker face
(4x)

P-p-p-poker face, p-p-poker face
(4x)

Message in a Bottle

The Idol

Tonight, not again...

Beneath those glittering lights...
When the veils are up...
Cast a face with all these people...

The songs i'll sing, will come mystical to these innocents; as if all a belying victim to the devil; all trapped lambs for the butcher.

Tonight, not again...
I'll drown my sorrows in the incense of liquor cocktails...
Savor the scent of women, whose laughter and company, a relief for the yoke;
then live each moment for only tonight...

I'll mutter pleasantries again, in malignant conversations with whom the twist of my tongue means cancer...
Then laughter... the best kept reprise for this hollow drifting log.

Tonight, not again...
I'll become someone who I know I'm not...

Jasmin Uy

Message in a Bottle

Writing exercise: Writing in Persona

In our recently concluded writing exercise for the writer pool, we were asked to put ourselves in the persona of either a Deaf, Mute, Deaf-mute, Cripple or Blind person. We were then asked to write a poem or prose about a great experience in our lives and how we went through that experience under the disability we've chosen, at 200 words minimum.

Below is my piece. I've chosen a persona of a Deaf-mute.

***

In silence I wept but clinching my fists I rose and slammed my knuckles straight to those weary concrete walls…

Feeling the jabbing pain and the sight of my blood, brushing aside teardrops of anguish, shouts of agony, savoring the irony that you have given me.

This wall has always been my comfort and my refuge after what you have done to me, yet I cannot raise my voice and I cannot hear what you say, all that I can give is my smile, shed a tear, or in mere action I can only express what I feel, abiding with innocence to what is happening around me. When my days seemed so long with you… Inside I’m wishing it will always be this way.

I remembered that this wall laid witness to our bitter sweet memories together, the fun times we’ve had in the past along with our friends

We ran together, we’ve fallen, we’ve laughed. You heard my first laugh here or so it seemed to you; but to me it was only grunts and a pinch in my chest… a renewed feeling because I was happy.

Then that fateful day did came, seeing you play with our friends, I sat down behind this wall taking a peek every now and then to see your smile. All for me has changed; seeing everyone’s faces and laughter. I can make out reading your lips that you were mocking, strange… I could make out that everyone was mocking me and laughing with content.

Slowly I turned and ran the other way to hide by the comforts of my room vowing to never see you again.

Yet you followed. Teary eyed, you grabbed my hand and eased me down to talk, but all was lost for me that day and it seems it will always be.

Inside I felt helpless with treason and pity with which I was borne unto this world, lesser the boy I wished that I could be.

When all you thought that your mere words cannot work out, you showed me a heart sign and went your way…

I cuddled in my bed the whole time; everyone was bewildered by my strange actions.
I tried to sleep but thinking about the wall, sneaked out, surprised to see the sight.

You’ve left your wooden horse for me with ribbons and all, which I remembered was your most prized possession and beside it a note that you wrote. A Strange token. I opened my mouth to utter the words that are in my heart, but only oblivious silence can I hear... I will remember this night. I will never forget you...

Message in a Bottle

Writing Exercise 33: The Alternate Ending

In our last writing exercise, we were given the time to produce our very own alternate ending to Neil Gaiman's Babycakes in 150 words minimum.

Here's my very own continuation to the story.

View also Neil Gaiman reading Babycakes on Youtube

Babycakes
Neil Gaiman

A few years back all the animals went away.

We woke up one morning, and they just weren't there anymore. They didn't even leave us a note, or say good-bye. We never figured out quite where they'd gone.

We missed them.

Some of us thought that the world had ended, but it hadn't. There just weren't any more animals. No cats or rabbits, no dogs or whales, no fish in the seas, no birds in the skies.

We were all alone.

We didn't know what to do.

We wandered around lost, for a time, and then someone pointed out that just because we didn't have any animals anymore, that was no reason to change our lives. No reason to change our diets or to cease testing products that might cause us harm.

After all, there were still babies.

Babies can't talk. They can hardly move. A baby is not a rational thinking creature.

We made babies.

And we used them.

Some of them we ate. Baby flesh is tender and succulent.

We flayed their skin and decorated ourselves in it. Baby leather is soft and comfortable.

Some of them we tested.

We taped open their eyes, dripped detergents and shampoos in, a drop at a time.

We scarred them and scalded them. We burnt them. We clamped them and planted electrodes in their brains. We grafted, and we froze, and we irradiated.

The babies breathed our smoke, and the babies' veins flowed with our medicines and drugs, until they stopped breathing or until their blood ceased to flow.

It was hard, of course, but it was necessary.

No one could deny that.

With the animals gone, what else could we do?

Some people complained, of course. But then, they always do.

And everything went back to normal.

***

In time, this cannibalistic tradition, a by- product of a chaotic mind engulfed and trapped in the obsession for the rival of homo-sapiens' domination; flourished without inquiry.

As if given the power to rule over the Supreme Being’s enigmatic creations, the consumption was with cult following.

It has never come to pass, as in a conspiracy; everyone was destined to follow.

Then that fateful day did came. For in a turmoil of emotion, a youth that was tucked safely away and was forced to slumber under the bowels of our forsaken civilization, stood up.

No more did he say.

At the gathering for the fools feast, to the elders, he did point and raised the QUESTION.

In the shadows of murmurs, praises and protest, he pointed the inevitable.

And in the eyes of the gathering, at the swift hack of the executioner’s blade he was slain.

Sparkling and dripping in filth, his blood reflects an uprising against a rubbish tradition.

I was a part of that unruly crowd that night and I too felt ashamed of what i have become,

I QUESTIONED myself for every drop of innocent blood spilled...

Many years has passed since the last gathering, and everyone lived in peace; everyone figured it would end.

Then as in a swift awakening, the grey clouds of yesterday slowly melted away;

For now, our most shrewd learned to make animals out of babies...

Jasmin Uy

Message in a Bottle

Transformers: More than meets the eye

Certainly the best movie up to date! Had fun watching it and felt a deep sense of satisfaction just watching one of my childhood hero series come alive on screen.

I had anticipated the release of this movie (tagging along our favorite munchies) and I’m glad to say along with millions more autobot fans out there that the movie producers have outdone themselves this time. A loud Bravo and kudos to all of you!

Last July 7, 2007 I went along with Jasmin to watch the movie at SM City Cebu, and man the place was fully packed with some comforting themselves, either sitting on the stairs or leaning against the walls!

Lucky I brought along my lighter as I was able to spot two seats near the center row and quickly settled in before somebody spot the comforting bays; (you'll have to be nimble in these situations)

Talk about a hell of a movie, the action scenes and CGI effects knocked me off my seat! Plus, the plot is cool; although some slight changes were employed (The all spark story and Optimus’ hot rod looks) Where the hell is omega when you need him?

Anyways, turning my attention once in a while to discuss the characters and powers to my awe amazed girlfriend (who’s just been introduced to the Transformers universe by the way; too much muggles and wizardry on her mind) I had a chance to catch a glimpse of the people around us, with whom as the movie progressed, just fixed their eyes onscreen silent and dumb founded.

The movie ended with a standing ovation, with all of us filling the cinema with laughter and loud clapping.

Never have I seen a CGI movie (much more a transformers movie) with so much impact on an audience. Autobots, transform and roll out!

Message in a Bottle

A piece of advice everybody should hold on to: Baz Luhrmann - Everybody's free (to wear sunscreen)

Here's one song that really sticks to my mind whenever i seek advice. Posted below are the lyrics to Baz Luhrmann's speech for a song: Everybody's free(to wear sunscreen). To hear the mp3, do check out the earplugz. enjoy

Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of ’99, wear sunscreen.
If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it.
The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience…I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; Oh nevermind; you will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded.
But trust me, in 20 years you’ll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked….

You’re not as fat as you imagine. Don’t worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum.

The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday. Do one thing everyday that scares you.

Sing. Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts, don’t put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss. Don’t waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind… The race is long, and in the end, it’s only with yourself.
Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you succeed in doing this, Tell me how. Keep your old love letters; throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch. Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your life…the most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don’t.

Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees, you’ll miss them when they’re gone. Maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll have children, maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll divorce at 40, maybe you’ll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary…

Whatever you do, don’t congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either – your choices are half chance, so are everybody else’s.

Enjoy your body, use it every way you can…don’t be afraid of it, or what other people think of it, it’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own..

Dance…even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room. Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them. DO NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents; you never know when they’ll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings; they are the best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but for the precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young.
Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard;
live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel. Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will philander, you too will get old, and when you do you’ll fantasize that when you were young; prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders. Don’t expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one might run out.

Don’t mess too much with your hair, or by the time you're 40, it will look 85. Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it’s worth. But trust me on the sunscreen…

Source: Message in a Bottle

The Prisoner (An office daydream)

Tonight ill climb those high walls again
Which to me, no man would dare climb
Go past the sentries, In the dead of the night.
Run past the watchdogs, with eyes red as blood.
Ravenous, with teeth razor sharp.

Step upon those thorny bushes that cut like knives
Past those gleaming searchlights.
Get a grip on those protruding white stones
Slowly and painfully inch my way to the top.

This ball and chain ill try to break away
With an iron saw in hand, coupled with a hardened gut
frail hands must cut through this cell
A small burden for a prize I had long for.

Surely they’ll hit me with what they’ve got
The cunning arts I must employ
Battle with my fears, grind my teeth
In silence, I must camouflage.

In hell’s kitchen I will burn,
To get caught or not,
The only cards I’ll play

If I’d get caught
My body, in bullet holes will be pierced
But It’s worth the gamble, for freedom I pray…

Then all of a sudden, What the heck?
The thought I must leave for another day
For I’ve just waken up from a daydream.
Wipe the drool off my chin.

I still have to work, on my PC I suppose,
Got a moments loss, into a doze
Assignments to finish, and earn my way
For the good of my wages, there are bills to pay… (JAmatong)

Message in a Bottle

Untitled (A dose of Prose dedicated to the famous)

A payment to you.
Life’s ladder you climbed.
The instrument to reach your ambition.
A lifestyle you uphold.
A dedicated occupation.
A family you saved.

The ramps you passed.
Under glaring lights.
Mystic cameras.
Creates a billboard for me,
A light on screen.
A colored blot to view on the morning paper.
A face gracing the magazine covers.
New clothes to wear.
Cushions to sleep.
Life’s luxuries.

Yes, life on the fast lane
Popularity,
The money, cars
Engrossed on the limelight.
Busy schedules to keep,
Sleepless city lights,
Frenzy city nights.

What’s on the other side?
I don’t know
You could be a friend.
Perhaps a foe,
Perhaps a cellophane,
Life’s misery, you hid undertow.

Villains, they will haunt you
Envy your success.
On deaf ears, let them pass,

For you are loved, subtle and simple;

behind your back he has always reside

though he may not have much...

Live your days.
Always keep a sane mind.

Follow not deviant ways.
Look life not upon a shelf.
Together, build a house,
Raise a family,
Make it into a home.

When all this will be over
Look upon your shoulder,
Take a peek,
On things you have surpassed.

Looking in the mirror,
Your lips will crack into a smile.
You lived your life.
You’ve made your mark…

And when it's time to go
To yourself, you'll say…
“I’ll see you when you get there…
If you’d ever get there, someday”…

Jasmin Uy

Message in a Bottle

The Loon Bohol Diarrhea Outbreak- (That pesky restroom urge)

With the recent news about an outbreak of diarrhea in the small town of Loon, Bohol (The Freeman Newspaper, Cebu 02/01/2007 / Jasmin Uy below) should teach not only the residents but us a lesson or two to keep sanitation a constant in our homes; this alarm has led to the hospitalization of hundreds of residents and claimed a couple of lives.

This just holds true to the fact (though a bit hard to admit) that with the coming of age for the Philippines, still a lot of our citizens, especially those that are living in far off countrysides, STILL DON’T HAVE TOILETS!

I find it ironic that as the country is slowly emerging in the business world and that the government sat busily promoting I.T. and exports, then news such as this comes along.

Man it’s 2007 and problems such these should have been long gone. I leave credits to the government because I find their information drive to be adequate but the real problem is in the people; because from what I’ve seen, even patches of small forests, beaches, and dark areas are not safe for would be- portable toilet seekers!

Just took a walk at a local beach once, I felt relaxed seeing the serene view and the calmness of the water, then all of a sudden Splat! I stepped upon a land mine (poop, I mean). There you have it; perhaps we should educate ourselves the right manners straight to our brains, because if we don’t then unhealthy events such as this pesky restroom urge will always leave us dry, once in a while.

DOH: Bacteria caused Loon diarrhea outbreak
The Freeman 02/01/2007

The presence of bacteria in the drinking water triggered the diarrhea outbreak that killed four people and hospitalized more than 400 others in Loon, Bohol, according to the Department of Health. DOH regional director Susana Madarietta said shigella flexneri, amoeba and e-coli are the kinds of bacteria that contaminated the drinking water of residents in Loon brought about by their unsanitary practices.

DOH confirmed the presence of bacteria in 12 out of the 14 rectal swabs from the diarrhea patients in the place. Test results showed that amoeba, e-coli and shigella flexneri bacteria have caused bacillary dysentery or diarrhea among the patients. Compared to amoeba, shigella flexneri spreads very easily.

The presence of the bacteria means that the water source of Loon has been contaminated. "The presence of shigella flexneri means water contamination from human feces," Madarietta said.

Loon Mayor Cesar Lopez, a doctor, said the bacteria came mostly from fecal oral root, which means that "it came from water and that it spreads through person-to-person contact." However, DOH is still awaiting the results of the water analysis from at least three water sources of Loon and two refilling stations. The water analysis is being conducted at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center.

Even if DOH officials have already pinpointed the bacteria, they will still need the results of the water analysis for comparison. Madarietta said they have already put in place a command outpost in Loon that will provide medicine, fluids and needles to the residents, adding that they are visiting every household to educate them on proper sanitation and distribute packs chlorine.

Aside from boiling the water, DOH also recommended proper hygiene such as constant hand washing as well as proper waste disposal. Lopez said the public can already get water from their water source but for safety measures, each household should also practice self-chlorination.

He said one of the major problems in the town is that some houses, especially those in the mountain barangays, do not have toilets. Because of this, residents are used to disposing of their human wastes outside their homes. The incessant rains last December until the early part of January could have caused the fecal matter to seep into the water sources.

Lopez said with this development, the local government should implement the Sanitation Code of the Philippines, explaining that under the law, each household should have its own sanitary toilet. He said since Dec. 25, there have been 408 victims of the diarrhea outbreak with two fatalities - a three-year-old girl and a 57-year-old woman. But he added that the 58-year-old woman reported as the latest fatality died of infection in the upper respiratory system.

At least 369 patients were admitted to different hospitals in Bohol. As of yesterday, some 80 patients remain at the Natalio Castillo Memorial Hospital. - Jasmin R. Uy

View: http://www.yuwie.com/jovir

corner shot with girlfriend Minmin and Bage at TJ's Ayala

Jasmin Uy

Writing Exercise: A Forest Walk (Poem)

As I walked past the big green trees;
guarding the skies above me like sentries in the night.

I touched the bark of the one;
I happened to have sat upon,
And stared in awe amazement about how something so great and full of life;
Battle hardened by the weather,
is just sitting so frail and lifeless in the pale-moonlight.

The wind blowed a hefty sum of limp-hot air that lonely summer night,
and I continued my way.
When all of a sudden, a familiar brightness and a warm gust caught my attention,
Then everything behind me was a wall of flame, so huge to mention.

A raging forest fire was fast coming my way! And I couldn’t do anything but run;
Trapped in the brightness, running but tempted like a moth drawn to the flame;
I ran with curiosity for danger; amazed by the warm yellow-orange illuminated wreck

Then a rod, as black as charcoal with a burning coat, suddenly toppled and claim the life off me.

Then everything went back to black; full of nightly creatures,
So dead silent was the night…

Message in a Bottle

Writing Exercise: The Blind Minstrel (Prose)

Friday morning March 22nd. I died a broken hearted man while talking to a constable sent over to investigate a crime, unimaginable in my youth and disability that I will and be able to commit.

To tell the story was all that I could do and to him I had to narrate the events as they unfold, teary eyed by the darkness that surrounds me and how nobody believes me;

Constable, I have nothing to hide, I swear by my good family’s name what really happened yesterday, and all will be told.

Whilst the sun began its journey across the cloudless sky,
I started my day carrying my trusty guitar,
and took a walk to my favorite spot in the gutter beneath the bridge downtown.

I sing merry songs to those souls who in my blinded state,
I can only hear. There were voices muttering gladness for the songs they’ve heard, others insult, and some who just don’t care;
then sounds of dropped pennies can be heard from my little can.

I pause every now and then,
said my thanks to my loyal patrons who found time to listen to my squabbles,
picked them up quickly and dropped them inside my pocket and walked on.

I don’t beg to get my day’s rations constable, I have my pride!
It was by lunchtime, that I heard my stomach grumble urging me to go and get my grub.

I crawled and walked,
I even stumbled a few yards just to touch and smell the creatures that abound me,
guided by their voices to an abandoned alley.

Then off from the gutter I stumbled on top of something;
letting my hand touch the warm being that I have stepped upon,
then a sudden realization whipped my senses, for here lies a woman I can tell!
all nude and lifeless in a place I can call a rats den.

I dropped my guitar and crawled to a tenement nearby;
to the souls who lived in that place I asked for help praying that life could still be preserved on that helpless woman.

I left without notice,
after making sure that the voices has helped her;
for in my hunger I think I myself cannot last as well.

But somehow I got the notion that the people that helped her were following me!
Their voices grew louder and louder; forcefully picked me up,
battered me, and pushed me up a vehicle.

It was later that I found out that those same people that I called upon
has accused me of robbery, murder, and rape;
I dragged a woman; a business woman to be exact from uptown that was passing by the alley they say;
and robbed her of her belongings at gun point,
and in my discontentment I raped her then shot her three times to the head!
thus the blood on the pavement...

Heard every word I said constable?

I told them the story as I’m telling this to you;
but they only laughed at me; beat me up again;
my execution they want swift.

In my beaten state, though I know I won’t live to tell;
but to you I pray, restore my dignity for I’m just a minstrel,
a blind one, but cheerful to be exact;
trapped in a tragedy of the unjust.

I’m sorry but I think I have to close my eyes;
in my bruises, I have to take a moment’s rest…

Jasmin Uy

Message in a Bottle

The Light by the Window

One rain pelted- cloudy day
I saw a light by the window
From a house I passed by;

When I came out for a day’s walk
To be with myself, and find time to engross in all my troubles,
And let time fly away on the park nearby;

The light shone so bright, more than I ever did see
Not the ordinary setting for a house,
A feature built for you and me

I stared, and curiously took a peek,
On the light that used to be small before my eyes but now glowing even more!

Standing motionless by the window I looked on still,
The light was dancing like yellow dessert fires on a moonlit night
Capturing me with sheer delight!

Then a feeling of warmth, somehow strange to fathom
Filled myself and engulfed me with intonation
Surprisingly all my troubles that haunted me, all have gone away
My mind’s at peace with no more worries to care...

I took the light in my arms carefully, and gladly ran all the way home
The light I put in a pedestal to be always by my side, in the dark to guide my way

And as a constant reminder I said to myself, that the light I took,
I must always kindle and take good care;

For the moment it's left out and fades…I will never be here...

Jasmin Uy

Message in a Bottle

The Isle of Rofus

With the progress of civilization and the passing of father time, also came the ills of humanity. For years, nations fought wars; societies became enslaved by prostitution, hunger, twisted religion, oppression, gambling, adultery, and theft.

Since time immemorial, these vile deeds has plagued humanity, and as these acts have gotten worse thru the decades, the elders of the various religions from many nations around the world came together and brought up a plan to preach the belief amongst their subjects of the ‘Isle of Rofus’, a promised land and nirvana where one can go to in the afterlife, provided that the path of purity and goodness has been followed. They thought up stories and tales so as to really make the people believe in the legend.

Hence, tales about the legendary isle was spread throughout the world. People from all walks of life were told of the good news.

For many decades, the belief of the isle, lingered on the minds of the people that they straightened their chaotic minds and took on the path of goodness. During these years men laid dormant and peaceful all throughout. Then came the dawn of the new era, as men foiled their minds and made new toys, evil in their hearts that lay dormant thru the years was awakened once again. Men slowly deviated from the ways of good and were enslaved once again by the toys they created and worship more than their gods.

Slowly, the belief in the Isle and the path of goodness was eradicated from the minds of humanity, and they took on all their evil ways once again. Now they have ‘guns’ and ‘money’, just two of the powerful toys that were made to make their lives easier but are slowly encroaching them with the ways of evil. And the Isle is no more…

Message in a Bottle