Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Man on the street

'Two more, two more' the man screams as he leads the lady up the jeepney. Day in and day out, for hours non-stop, he 'barks' and helps people board and alight. Under the hot sun, he will sweat. Under the rain, with nothing but a bandana, or plastic, on his head to keep him dry, he will continue.

He probably hoped to study when he was younger, get a decent job as a waiter possibly; engineer if he was dreaming extra big. But life happened, the way it usually happened to people of his class: not your way.

By lunch, maybe he'll be able to afford a packet of instant coffee to pass the hunger, maybe he'll be able to afford a cup of rice with some soy sauce, if he's lucky. By the end of the day, most likely he'll go home hungry and feed his kids at home with what's left of the day's earnings. He'll lie down on an old mattress, if any at all, look up at the roof of his make-shift house, and hope it will not rain tonight-- his pillow just dried after all.

He will sleep and rise the next morning with the hope that one day things will be different. As he walks to the street corner where he works, he knows his situation won't change. This is his life: 'Pasay... Pasay' he cries. Life goes on.

Photo credits to Acayan

Friday, July 19, 2013

So I Guess Life Goes On

Earlier this week I saw families living in make-shift houses along Amorsolo Street in Makati-- I think their houses burned down or they were simply driven from their homes.  I saw mattresses on bamboo beds under tents right on the street. Along with their kids, bags and all, they hid from the rain. Cars drove by with its passengers who, like me, possibly felt sorry for a moment. But once the car turned the next corner, they were back to their own realities. Also equally likely, they ignored them altogether and did not even stop to think about why they were there. These people now in the streets, they're probably just informal settlers after all, right?

This morning on the way to work I saw a man rummaging through the trash by the side of the road less than five minutes away from my gated community where the guards keep people like him out. Maybe he was looking for food, maybe not. Or more likely, he was looking for clothes-- as obviously he didn't have any on. He could possibly just have gone mad and wasn't in his right mind. That might explain it, right? Well, that's probably what we all told ourselves as we went about our day. He'll probably just be a story we tell our friends and family over lunch. Some might even say they've seen something similar, but in the other side of the metro.

Nothing new, life goes on.

I will eat. I will sleep.
I will probably see such things again on the way home. If not, then maybe tomorrow.

And yet still, life goes on.

July 19, 2013 by Jose Antonio Henson

Saturday, April 6, 2013

Just Smile

December 18, 2012

Just smile, though it hurts.
Just smile, even when it burns.
Just smile, I will myself.

How long can I just smile
How long can I fake this
How long will this last

At times it becomes real
At times I find joy
At times still, it's just a smile.

This act must end
This scene conclude
How long before the muscles tire? 
the soul give up?




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