After The Rains
After the seven days rains
The waters receded;
Leaving the mud and slides
To be cleaned up;
The broken twigs and branches
Littered the streets, the creeks
That turned to rivers
And the pools that turned
Into awesome lakes now gone,
Like a battle field
Strewn with dead bodies
piled up like dead woods
Waiting to be buried;
Reeking with the smell of decay
It is sweet to find
The sunshine shining
After the rains as the grey skies
Turned into blue and again
We can greet everybody
A Merry Christmas to you.
Al P. Garcia
December 23, 2010
27.1.11
Perceptions
Perceptions
As a revolutionary, I am not supposed to believe in idealism.
So dreams, apparations and magic like those told in Harry Potter stories I just shrugged off.
But honestly, I learned to appreciate the knowledge of the unknown. It is not idealism after all but the reality of metaphysics.
Metaphysics meaning some things that can happened but cannot be explained will have its explanations later. Meanwhile, in the absence of a proper term, and exact explanations , we can call it idealism, magic or mystery.
Being detached from the world you have been used to really develop a gulf with your former reality and the present reality where you are in.
It is sad that we lived in the world where the perceptions of the majority must be the perception of the individual. If you do not with the flow, they will call you crazy.
One thing that I appreciate is that I do not have dreams lately.
Maybe for more than two years of so. That is why I am taken aback when things happened that I did not have any premonitions of or being surprised with such events. Usually, I dreamt about it even before it happens.
I found it good to be surprised with such events. Having a happy sleep is one luxury that I enjoy now. Because having dreams causes troubles for me. Meaning I have not been divorced with my old reality and my former life.
Still, I found it disturbing because once in a while I will have a very troubling dream. Dreams that do not give me any warning . Hazy and fuzzy dreams that will make me so tired and dry after sleep.
Once, I was in a middle of a dream when my daughter came home. I did not try to wake up because I thought it was morning already and went back to my dreams but when I woke up it was still evening. It was then I learned that I fell asleep at four in the afternoon and she came home at around six in the evening.
Then I was fully awake and was not able to sleep again till the wee hours of the morning.
I was surprised to find out that a close woman comrade of us died in the line of duty. That is why I had a very incoherent dream. That is why I was so disturbed in my sleep.
I cannot decide if I will be happy to regain that capability of mine to dream events that can forewarn me of some coming event. I thought I lost that sense of feeling two years ago.
I was wrong. Now I have to be ready for things to come.
In the other sense I am happy in the thought that I still live in the other reality deep in the struggles in my home front.
*************
As a revolutionary, I am not supposed to believe in idealism.
So dreams, apparations and magic like those told in Harry Potter stories I just shrugged off.
But honestly, I learned to appreciate the knowledge of the unknown. It is not idealism after all but the reality of metaphysics.
Metaphysics meaning some things that can happened but cannot be explained will have its explanations later. Meanwhile, in the absence of a proper term, and exact explanations , we can call it idealism, magic or mystery.
Being detached from the world you have been used to really develop a gulf with your former reality and the present reality where you are in.
It is sad that we lived in the world where the perceptions of the majority must be the perception of the individual. If you do not with the flow, they will call you crazy.
One thing that I appreciate is that I do not have dreams lately.
Maybe for more than two years of so. That is why I am taken aback when things happened that I did not have any premonitions of or being surprised with such events. Usually, I dreamt about it even before it happens.
I found it good to be surprised with such events. Having a happy sleep is one luxury that I enjoy now. Because having dreams causes troubles for me. Meaning I have not been divorced with my old reality and my former life.
Still, I found it disturbing because once in a while I will have a very troubling dream. Dreams that do not give me any warning . Hazy and fuzzy dreams that will make me so tired and dry after sleep.
Once, I was in a middle of a dream when my daughter came home. I did not try to wake up because I thought it was morning already and went back to my dreams but when I woke up it was still evening. It was then I learned that I fell asleep at four in the afternoon and she came home at around six in the evening.
Then I was fully awake and was not able to sleep again till the wee hours of the morning.
I was surprised to find out that a close woman comrade of us died in the line of duty. That is why I had a very incoherent dream. That is why I was so disturbed in my sleep.
I cannot decide if I will be happy to regain that capability of mine to dream events that can forewarn me of some coming event. I thought I lost that sense of feeling two years ago.
I was wrong. Now I have to be ready for things to come.
In the other sense I am happy in the thought that I still live in the other reality deep in the struggles in my home front.
*************
2010--The Year That Was
2010--The Year That Was as we welcome the new year
Last year-2010 was distinguished from the other years with specific events.
It was marked with one successful conference, an exciting community Mayflower festival, a case filing for the veterans and widows , two deaths and ended in two weddings.
Citing the sad episodes, the Filipino-American community lost two of its most young promising leaders. John De Lloro, a long time friend in the activist community died unexpectedly. The one that always reminded me to “slow down” I had to view him from his casket.
The sad part is that the family except his father and some of them really appreciated his work with the community. The others were so bitter that they shielded the immediate family from his burial. Like most of the immediate families of activist in the Philippines, I understood their jealousy from the love of an activist.
They thought maybe the labor leader could have lived longer if he was who he was. A fallacy that destroys people who were never politicized.
Another one who departed was Peter Corpus. The community tribute to him was a testament of his beautiful work that will be his lost lasting legacy to his community. What ever good that was lost because of his departure, will be gained by what Peter has sown in the future in the community he has helped built.
Milestone
Another event that was a milestone in the community was the case filing of the veterans and widows last October 8, 2010 in San Francisco. The denied veterans that numbered more than 22,000 who were denied by the DVA because of a flimsy excuse that they are not on the so-called “Missouri List”made the hard decision to fight for their rights.
The JFAV, AWARE and the Migrant Heritage Commission (MHC) are leading these efforts of more than 56,000 living veterans and at least 120,000 widows in the Philippines and in the United States.
It was a undertaking that took more than two years in planning. Yet the gain outweigh the cost. It proved that we Filipino Americans are not mendicant and are not push-overs.
Another exciting event was the Mayflower Festival at the eastern end of Historic Filipinotown. It was almost perfect until the City threw a monkey wrench into the affair. They wanted the event to pay $ 2,000 for a procession so we have to scale it down to an indoor festival. So much for a large scale planning. We have to make do with what we can have.
As usual a usual socialism conference was held in USC in Los Angeles last November. The difference this time, more activist sprung out from the ground to move the socialist agenda forward. Old faces are gone, new faces emerged to take up the challenges of the times.
The two weddings
And the last but were also exciting events was the two weddings of the year. Actually it was more than weddings. It was a political consolidation of sort. Doubled as a reunion and a show of community strength and friendship.
A ninja and a cook got hitched.It was both a product of long political relationships. A warrior and a diminutive lady got married in the library after that.
On a sorry note, we arrived just in time for the speeches. We were early but we have to spend time looking for a parking space because my friend wont want to pay for parking.
I was not even able to take off my green military overcoat and was shoved into the limelight for a speech that almost everybody did not understand but I delivered. I looked like a soldier coming from the battlefield to report to the HQ the good results of a great battle that won the war! Minus the helmet of course!
What a way to end the year in heavy drinking and getting up in the morning with a hangover. But that was the year that was folks. Not let’s get ready for the next year with more hope, more perseverance and more hard struggle.
And hard drinks!
Happy New Year!
**********
Last year-2010 was distinguished from the other years with specific events.
It was marked with one successful conference, an exciting community Mayflower festival, a case filing for the veterans and widows , two deaths and ended in two weddings.
Citing the sad episodes, the Filipino-American community lost two of its most young promising leaders. John De Lloro, a long time friend in the activist community died unexpectedly. The one that always reminded me to “slow down” I had to view him from his casket.
The sad part is that the family except his father and some of them really appreciated his work with the community. The others were so bitter that they shielded the immediate family from his burial. Like most of the immediate families of activist in the Philippines, I understood their jealousy from the love of an activist.
They thought maybe the labor leader could have lived longer if he was who he was. A fallacy that destroys people who were never politicized.
Another one who departed was Peter Corpus. The community tribute to him was a testament of his beautiful work that will be his lost lasting legacy to his community. What ever good that was lost because of his departure, will be gained by what Peter has sown in the future in the community he has helped built.
Milestone
Another event that was a milestone in the community was the case filing of the veterans and widows last October 8, 2010 in San Francisco. The denied veterans that numbered more than 22,000 who were denied by the DVA because of a flimsy excuse that they are not on the so-called “Missouri List”made the hard decision to fight for their rights.
The JFAV, AWARE and the Migrant Heritage Commission (MHC) are leading these efforts of more than 56,000 living veterans and at least 120,000 widows in the Philippines and in the United States.
It was a undertaking that took more than two years in planning. Yet the gain outweigh the cost. It proved that we Filipino Americans are not mendicant and are not push-overs.
Another exciting event was the Mayflower Festival at the eastern end of Historic Filipinotown. It was almost perfect until the City threw a monkey wrench into the affair. They wanted the event to pay $ 2,000 for a procession so we have to scale it down to an indoor festival. So much for a large scale planning. We have to make do with what we can have.
As usual a usual socialism conference was held in USC in Los Angeles last November. The difference this time, more activist sprung out from the ground to move the socialist agenda forward. Old faces are gone, new faces emerged to take up the challenges of the times.
The two weddings
And the last but were also exciting events was the two weddings of the year. Actually it was more than weddings. It was a political consolidation of sort. Doubled as a reunion and a show of community strength and friendship.
A ninja and a cook got hitched.It was both a product of long political relationships. A warrior and a diminutive lady got married in the library after that.
On a sorry note, we arrived just in time for the speeches. We were early but we have to spend time looking for a parking space because my friend wont want to pay for parking.
I was not even able to take off my green military overcoat and was shoved into the limelight for a speech that almost everybody did not understand but I delivered. I looked like a soldier coming from the battlefield to report to the HQ the good results of a great battle that won the war! Minus the helmet of course!
What a way to end the year in heavy drinking and getting up in the morning with a hangover. But that was the year that was folks. Not let’s get ready for the next year with more hope, more perseverance and more hard struggle.
And hard drinks!
Happy New Year!
**********
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