. . .

You were intricately created out of boundless love by the Supreme Divinity and yet they only sum you up to neglected appearance and eccentric jeremiads. But you will not allow such petty ostracism to lead to a cataclysm of your mental faculty. Reason has never left you. You only drank the sweet water from the exclusive well.

. . .

While one is being eaten away by his own conceited bravado- believing only what can be seen and proving only what his senses can attain-; one fails to understand that those proofs are so horribly futile to bring to light the existence of an overwhelming Reality.

. . .

It is hard to conquer oneself. But it is harder not to be what you ought to be. In aberration, there is that salvation from becoming a worldly redundancy. For even the frenzied has a spot on this earth.

H

Though lost forever into that abyss of darkness,
which no man had ever return from,
I can't forget and I will not forget a hope
amidst the wreckage of my dreams
and the ruins of the life I had led.
It's you.

Years passed and I was forced to move on and dance
with all the changes in all aspects of the said life.
Yet all of those failed to remove a singular light
across my dismal, moonless night-sky.
It's you.

I was dead yet I am alive because a particular thought
invaded every cell in my body like a poison,
not to kill me slowly but breathe into my lifeless way, shape, or form.
It's you.

Why- notwithstanding the time that has elapsed-
did you remain in me?
I turned my back on a sweet memory unattained and left
yet all this time it was with me.
It's you.

A tragedy- a land filled with flowers, groves, music and laughter
I had been approaching but the wind has revealed
your scent of infection- lethal, charnel, rotting smell
of plague and uncovered cemeteries.
It's you.

The Road to Happiness

"There is a space in the heart that can never be filled." - Charles Bukowski

Girl: I know where you're going.
Old Man: Oh, you know? Tell me.
Boy: Old Man's going to travel down the road to happiness.
Doctor: You won't get to happiness alive. You will die because of old age.
Girl: But Old Man's still strong.
Old Man: Indeed, I am. I am stronger than I seem to be.
Beggar: Uh-uh. It takes more than being strong to make out of that road alive. That singular road is haunted!
Boy: How did you know? Have you traveled that road?
Doctor: No, he had not traveled that road yet. His friend did.
Old Man: Friend? Who?
Beggar: My poor friend. The one who lives each day in the wreckage of his dreams. You'll see him one of these days.
Doctor: He walks the street aimlessly muttering to himself. He was locked up in a room two weeks ago where he cannot harm others anymore nor himself.
Girl: Tell me beggar, what happened to him?
Beggar: Well, my friend. .er. . let's call him Looney. . yes, that is his name. Well, Looney treaded that road a few months ago but he never made it to happiness.
Fortune- teller: I see. I know what really happened. Let me tell the rest of the story. Looney did not tell you everything, Beggar.
Boy: Alright Fortune-teller, tell us everything you know.
Fortune-teller: Looney traveled that damned road alone. While he walked that road, he was accompanied by accursed creatures you would not dare to talk about.
Old Man: Lady, tell us about these creatures.
Beggar: Oh come on. Looney told me all about those walking skeletons and giant spiders.
Fortune-teller: There were more than walking skeletons and giant spiders that because of it, Looney had lost his wits.
Doctor: Tell us more.
Fortune-teller: There were uncovered cemeteries at each side of the road. There were thos plague-stricken bodies in those cemeteries- ever rotting, infected with unattained dreams.
Girl: That's actually disturbing.
Fortune-teller: Those cemeteries extend all the way till you reach happiness.
Old Man: I am not afraid of dead bodies, skeletons and giant spiders.
Fortune-teller: But Old Man, when you travel that road, you will see something else. Cemeteries, skeletons, and spiders are Looney's ghosts or rather burden to bear before reaching happiness.
Doctor: Yes, I heard about that. One who dares to travel the road to happiness will have to face his own demons before reaching that blessed place.
Old Man: Demons! I don't have those.
Boy: We all have those, Old Man. If you want to know what will hinder you on your way to happiness, why don't you ask Fortune-teller. She might have a clue.
Old Man: Tell me, Fortune-teller.
Fortune-teller: Give me a minute. Well.. uhm.. I see a lady in white soaked in blood and a dead baby. And uh.. let me see...
Beggar: Old Man, why are you crying?
Old Man: You're right Beggar. I might not make out of that road alive. (Leaves.)
Boy: Poor Old Man! He gave up the journey to happiness.
Doctor: What about me Fortune-teller? Should I travel that road, what would I see?
Can you tell me?
Fortune-teller: Of course, Doctor. But I'm telling you, $10 is enough for me to tell you all about the things you will encounter when you follow that road.
Doctor: Here's my $10. (Gives the money to Fortune-teller)
Fortune-teller: (Smiles.)
Girl: But you didn't ask for $10 when Old Man asked you.
Fortune-teller: Old Man is a senior citizen.
Beggar: Tell the Doctor now Lady.
Fortune-teller: Alright, for you Doctor, I see.. uhm.. well.. books. I see lots of books burning!
Doctor: (Smiles weakly.) What else do you see?
Fortune-teller: A stern old man. He is frowning like the Devil himself. He has a stick in his hands. But..uhm.. I'm concerned about the burning books. I think they were self-published.
Doctor: Enough.
Girl: Here Fortune-teller. I have $8. Please, give me a discount. I am a good girl. Tell me what I'll see on that road.
Fortune-teller: Oh, no! It's $10.
Girl: Then take my bracelet. It's not much but I know it's worth more than $2.
Fortune-teller: (Accepts the money and the bracelet.) Very well. For you.. I see a field. Is it a cornfield? I see a scarecrow. It's moving. I see a dead soldier on the road and an abandoned house.
Girl: I see. I understand now.
Boy: How about me? Here, I have $5. Take my watch. Dad gave it to me.
Fortune-teller: (Accepts the money and the watch.) Alright, for you Boy.. I see a lady floating.
Boy: That's it? A floating lady?
Fortune-teller: Yes. I think she is dead. Misery and supressed grief killed her. Do you know her?
Boy: I think I know her now.
Fortune-teller: Alright, anyone else? What about you Beggar?
Beggar: Uhm.. anyone? Can someone pay $10 for me?

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