Dresser

Good literature is like a well-taken photo. It is a reflection not of life itself, because life is too big and complex to be reflected in one picture (or one work of art), but of one part, maybe even a few parts, of life. It works by indirection, saying what it wants to say about that part of life of which it feels competent to comment, not straightforwardly, as in journalese or legalese or political economy, but by way of images, or narrative, or action, or even of rhythm or cadence or tone.

What is this photo trying to say? Is it any good? Do you find any use for it?

This poem will not get into my new collection

Towards our Sixties
by Mila D. Aguilar

Towards our sixties,
fire gone from our eyes,
light now within
drawing the moths
of your desires
only to extinguish them.

For your sake.
Some got such wisdom
earlier, by grace,
but we had
the energy to burn,
I guess,

Or perhaps
the demons to expel.
Having been singed
ourselves
we now know
better.


January 12, 2005
8:15-8:23 am

The poem above is dedicated to Emmallaine Loreto of English 1 TFU, who has started her own blog, http://TapIntoMe.blogspot.com. Go and see it! She has good English, and thinks deeply too!

Students of English 1 TFU: Something to correct

I am pasting onto this post a short article I received via email just now. It has only one grammatical mistake. If you can pinpoint it, then you've learned something from me. Though you don't have to be a student of English 1 to post your answer, I expect my English 1 students to beat everyone to the draw!
______

WORD FOR TODAY (Psalm 90:12):
Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

THOUGHT:
When we lose our sense of urgency to live for God, we end up wasting our time. God has a plan for us, for our world, and for His Church. Without God's gift of "spiritual arithmetic" (numbering our days aright), we will never gain a heart of wisdom. So, how do we get such a gift? Ask for it without doubting. Trusting the Lord for wisdom has a huge effect on us and the way we conduct our lives. Rather than losing heart, God gives us a heart of wisdom.

PRAYER:
Holy and Almighty God, King of the Ages, You alone live in complete wisdom, justice and grace. Please help me to know what time it is in my life and the role You want me to play at this stage of my journey. I want my life to be lived glorifying You. In Jesus' precious name I pray. AMEN!

Journey: An Autobiography in Verse (1964-1995), published by the University of the Philippines Press in 1996, is Mila D. Aguilar's sixth book of poetry and a compilation of her previous five. Her seventh book of poetry, due for publication in 2005, is entitled Chronicle of a Life Foretold: 110 Poems (1996-2004).