As Told By Ginger - And She Was Gone

She chose to walk alone.
Though others wondered why.
Refused to look before her,
Kept eyes cast upwards,
Towards the sky.
She didn't have companions.
No need for earthly things.
Only wanted freedom,
From what she felt were puppet strings.
She longed to be a bird.
That she might fly away.
She pitied every blade of grass
For planted they would stay.
She longed to be a flame.
That brightly danced alone.
Felt jealous of the steam
That made the air its only home.
Some say she wished too hard.
Some say she wished too long.
But we awoke one autumn day
To find that she was gone.
Some say she wished too hard.
Some say she wished too long.
But we awoke one autumn day
To find that she was gone.
The trees, they say, stood witness.
The sky refused to tell.
But someone who had seen it
Said the story played out well.
She spread her arms out wide.
Breathed in the break of dawn.
She just let go of all she held...

And then she was gone.

Road to Martyrdom

I was the one who gives and seldom ask something in return. Then, I finally got the feeling of hoping to be help for but came back in the end helpless. I felt the moment when someone else turns their back on you. I usually do get those moments but this is the time that I really need help but got nothing. I do not get mad or try to get even with this kind of situation. Most likely on a typical human nature we try to get on the safe side by not giving too much or just by trying to get revenge on those people who turned their backs on us. I have learned to get by on my own most of the time but there would come a time we would need something from someone; so we seek help. I am not the one who is scared of asking for help if I really need one and so I did but was in vain.


 As I said I got to understand and accept that there might be something worth more important than my need. But I found myself crying, for the unfairness and my stupidity. Some people say I am too good to be true but most of the times people regard me as a martyr. I am a giver in all sense: to whatever smallest thing that I have that can help someone I would give it wholeheartedly without hesitation. I am not born wealthy, I just know the feeling of having nothing from having something and being able to share it with other people. One friend even told me that martyrs get killed. But unlike me and the rest of other martyrs out there; we are unsung. We are left in the dark by those ungrateful people. I sound like I am angry right now but I am not. I am just heartbroken and disappointed (most of the time I am disappointed). Maybe then it was my fault people took me for granted because I let them do this to me and just continue to be meek and quiet. But I really cannot afford to be angry because it will just lead me to regrets and waste of time. Anyway, I believe in the power of karma. It will eventually come around and be in my favor.


It is just sad that a simple thank you is thrown a little bit too much now and has lost its rightful meaning. There are just those real people who are born thick-skinned or just use gratitude for the sake of using it. It is so difficult to believe in what is real and to feel what kindness is when some people are just so ridiculously unbelievable in a bad way. In a world where we meet a variety of personalities that gives us a confusion of emotions we sometimes give up on believing in humanity already. I cannot give up even if they say martyrs get killed and would just die in vain. I just keep my faith like I always did. I do can get my on my own but it sometimes is wonderful for a heart that hopes to have someone who can fully appreciate a martyr like me.

A Thousand Splendid Suns (Book Review)

Women like us. We endure. It's all we have.

Moving and grips my very heart.This book already sent me to tears as I was just reading a few pages of it. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini; the title was derive from a poem by Saib-e-Tabrizi back in 17th century. Here is a line from the poem:

One could not count the moons that shimmer on her roofs.

Or the thousand splendid suns that hide behind her walls.

The book unfolds the story of two Afghan women; Mariam and Laila thrown into each others lives amidst their war-torn country. First we get to know the young Mariam who lives with her mother away from the prying people of the city of Herat because she was a harami (a bastard). At a young age she adored her father even though she had to share his love and affection with his three wives and ten other children. Soon, Mariam faced the sorrow of losing her mother and the realization that her father was really ashamed of her. At fifteen, she was forced to marry a troubled and bitter man; Rasheed from Kabul thirty years her senior. This man will eventually beat her and enslaved her because she was not able to give him a child. Then Mariam was forced to welcome the orphaned Laila. At the height of the unrest, Laila lost her parents and was separated from her beloved Tariq. With nothing left for her Laila decided to marry Rasheed to save her child as she believed a lie that Tariq was already dead.

Together, Mariam and Laila built a friendship that knows no blood relation and boundaries. They found solace in each other as they faced unfathomable struggle and pain of being a woman in a country consumed by war, starvation, brutality, inequality and poverty. The book shows you how a woman suffers in silence, fights for a hope so bleak, and trust in love that endures everything.

The story reflects the struggle of Afghan women to fight for their rightful in their society during the climax of war from the leaving of the Soviets to the Taliban rule and up until President Bush declared war against Osama Bin Laden. In the story, Mariam suffered the shame of being an illegitimate child. Laila was forced to give birth through Caesarian without any anesthesia in a hospital with meager facilities. Women were never allowed to travel without a man companion or else they will be beaten. They were force to wear the traditional burqa to hide their faces without any accessories. They fought with man to have equal rights but in vain. This book was dedicated to all Afghanistan women and their plight. God only knows how things right now in Afghanistan are. Surely, things might be totally different now and we can only hope that the women are not suffering like this anymore. A heart can only endure so much, anyway.

Each snowflake was a sigh heaved by an aggrieved woman somewhere in the world. All the sighs drifted up the sky, gathered into clouds, then broke into tiny pieces that fell silently on the people below. As a reminder of how women suffer.

A Grammatic Life

I always dreamed of becoming a bestseller author of a book or a renowned writer. Then life seems to get so busy and too dramatic that my writing skills are more of a free way of emotions in my life than a group of carefully chosen words that fit perfectly well. Without any grammatical error. Maybe my dream would still take its effect sooner or later. But I learned to love the life as I have right now as I also love writing about it in every way I can.


Life can really be frustrating like in finding the perfect words to fit in a sentence. As infuriating as it is on the never ending questions marks that we have in mind that were always left unanswered. Excitement and fun that we put as many exclamation points that we can just to express the intensity of what are feelings could be. And then there would be endings like what we use period for. When all has been said and done we say it with a period. Sometimes when we just need a break we say it with a comma. Or when there is still something worth saving for in a blur of words that we tried hard to make it sensible.

But life does not really makes sense most of the time like words and phrases lost in a mixed of feelings and thoughts. Then like any good writer who wants to send a message so everyone can relate to; I try to save the sentence. Like how I try to save my life in each and every day of my life. We are trying to be survivors like every run-on sentence that has the fear of being removed from a paragraph. We are all trying to make an impression and be a part of something to see our purpose.

So when a period, a comma or even an exclamation point is not necessary I save it with a semicolon. A semicolon can combine two contradicting sentences or how to independent clauses can be united in one sentence. A semicolon in our lives is like a hope that reaches out to a life close to surrendering. It does not always have to end with a period so we can start all over again. It is not really necessary questioning it and keep finding some answers when we do not really need to. We just have to keep on moving. We need to read along life as a sentence so we can see the real picture and understand it. As a person who writes often, I noticed how my sentences can be too long and how a semicolon can give meaning to it and let the person breathe as they read it. It helps me to connect a negative clause to its positive counterpart. A semicolon shows the faith of how bad things can eventually turn into a good thing. Like the tears that we cry that life gives us do not always have to end in sadness. It sometimes is the divide when smiling and laughing is not enough.

In every day that we have, in evry ticking of the clock everything has to move. I know my dream can be a period if it would end now or an exclamation point in the future. But right now I can be a comma or a semicolon. This is how dramatic or grammatic my life can be...

The Chronicles of E (Book Review)

"My name is E. I am 25 years old. I stand 5 feet and 7 inches,weighs 145 lbs. I have light complexion. I am a recovering drug addict and this is my diary."

You might think this is a typical introduction. You might think this would just be an ordinary book. But think again. I was recommending another book to a close friend that turned out was already out of stock. My friend was surprised to see this book and he said it was originally a blog. We found ourselves on the bookstore's floor reading it. It was not a thick book but I found myself already in to the book. It has a Parental Guidance on its cover for its explicit content. Even then, the book started lightly and I was even laughing on some part of it. He wrote his entry in such a way that even though it is really a serious situation you found yourself smiling with the way he inserted some sarcasm.

It chronicles the Life of E. A confessed drug addict. A bisexual who has mastered the art of using people for his personal gains. He grew up away from his family but I can say he was always supported especially on his studies. But he drop out of school and had vices.He learned to climb up the ladder to what he called Clans (group of some influential people who do drugs) so he can sustain his vices. Sex was also a vital part in it. But along his journey E also met people who had influenced him and made him feel weak and reminded him that he is only human.

Half-way through in reading the book I can say his evil I despised him or even loathe him in some things that he did to other people or even to himself. He disregard his self-worth and enter prostitution when he does not even need to be in that business. I was crashed when he pushed someone to his death, which did nothing but to love him unconditionally. But I was touched as he was able to find true friends along. I particularly loved the character of Cousin. He was E's closest friend. Cousin was a drug addict also but he learned to stop. Through it all, he was with E no matter what. He accepted E's misdemeanor, his craziness and he never fails to cry for E when the latter fail to do so for himself.

But all the fun has to stop and E’s life finally turn to a snap when he learned that he was HIV positive. He thought this was his karma, for all the wrongdoings and the lessons he neglected. I felt sorry for him in a way but he got my full admiration as he went on to be a survivor. Yes, reading how E lived his life maybe revolting or demoralizing for some but no one can blame him on the life he had chosen to live. My heart goes to him as I read along the parts when he tried to start again and right the wrongs that should have been right at the beginning. I was no longer laughing on his sarcasm; in fact I was close to tears. It was heartbreaking but E did not surrender. He knew where he went wrong and he knew his was not an ideal life to lead. His life is a great example for a lesson learned in a hard way when you have chosen to ignore it.

Indeed, life is everybody's choice. No one should take the blame. Whatever the life we chose to follow is a decision that we take. It is just a matter of how we put our best foot forward in every battle life has to give. It is a matter of stumbling and fumbling our way so we can eventually call ourselves survivors. In a way, I envy E for the life he lead, on the things that he was able to do and the fun that he chose to have. E has the courage of a man that some of us never had. His life does not know any regrets but only risks taken to make him the person he is now.

This book can change someone's outlook in life. It did change me. It gave me more meaning to a different life outside of me. It gave me a profound understanding of how life can indeed change us in a matter of seconds. It also gives knowledge about HIV. People have little information about it. I think they find HIV repulsive because they always associate it with sex and drugs. But HIV is just like any other disease just blown out of proportion that is why people often find HIV positive patients filthy or an outcast.

"My name is E. I am 26 years old. I stand 5 feet and 7 inches,weighs 145 lbs. I have light complexion. I am a recovering drug addict and this is my diary."

The Hunger Games (Book Review)

As I finished this book and feel the hunger of waiting to know more of the story, I knew this book is different. I can fully relate to the heroine aside from having the knacks on devouring books with the ladies conquering the story.

I can see myself in Katniss Everdeen. I was the same age gap as what Katniss was from her youngest sister. I was thinking if I woud be brave enough to volunteer to save my sister. The book centers about the annual Hunger Games held in Panem in what is left of what formally known as North America. It is now divided into twelve districts with each has their own industry to offer. The yearly games has the Reaping wherein each districts selects two tributes between the age of twelve and eighteen; one female and one male. The Hunger Games was a reminder to every citizen of Panem of the Dark Days and how they should be thankful to the government of what they have right now.

At District 12, we can find Katniss Everdeen who volunteered in place of her sister Primrose Everdeen when the latter's name was picked. The main industry of the district is coal mining where Katniss lost her father on an explosion. She was force to mature and take care of the family her father had left when her mother drowns in depression. She learned the harsh reality of the life she had. She learned to hunt and trade for food so she can keep her loved ones alive or at least get through one day with a full stomach. She also get a help from Gale, a hunting friend who also supports his younger siblings.

Peeta Mellark a son of the town's baker was chosen as the male tribute. Katniss has never ever talk to this boy even that day he threw a loaf of charred bread to her way when she was exhausted and desperately searching for food for her family. And so they were chose as tributes for their district and was transported to the Capitol to compete with other 22 tributes from other districts. . Katniss and Peeta were mentored by the former victor from their district, Haymitch. He was the first ever victor from their district who was now a drunkard. Before the games the tributes form each district has their own stylist;they have Cinna and Effie led their prep team to make them look pleasing to the crowd. They should be able to atrract sponsors to help them as they enter the battle field. Katniss and Peeta won the crowd by playing as the star-crossed lovers. The plot has some poignant moments like when the young district 12 tribute Rue died. Katniss saw Prim in her and in the middle of the game they form an alliance. Poor Rue died in her arms when she failed to save her from another tribute. Each tribute in the Game has something to offer. Like Tributes from District 1 and 2 were trained in combat at a young age. The game is manipulated and crowds get to bet on the Tributes

"If I'm gonna die. I wanna still be me", says Peeta. Katniss was determined to stay alive and survive for Prim. The game gave a twist of honoring two victors this time as long as they belong to the same district but they took it back in the end. But instead of the game manipulating them the two manged to survived in the end and making it as the first ever two Victors of the Hunger Games.

The book is scary and engaging. It shows you how the innocents lost it or manage to deal with the harshness of life has to offer. Everyone is a survivor in their own way. It is just matter of wits and staying pure to your heart. Anything can change us in a minute. Anyone can influence us but it is how you stay true to yourself and nevr letting anyone stole that from you.

Confessions of a Bullied Kid

Anyone can be a victim. Anyone can be a suspect. Or anyone can be the one in between. As we grew up to be the person that we are right now, one way or another we get to encounter someone like them. I am talking about the bullies. I am a victim and these are my confessions.

Sometimes when I look back I wonder how I grew up to be this kind of person. I remembered entering kindergarten, I was my always meek and quiet self. Thank goodness, I always have my mother to protect me. Parents always know when someone is belittling or making their children's life miserable. I remember living in a small neighborhood and there was this hyperactive kid. He likes pushing around, battling his way here and there like I was as strong as he is but I was stick thin you know. I learned to ignore him. He is just a fat, hyperactive kid who feels like he is a superhero. So I enter grade school, I had an average height but there would be girls taller than me. There is this one incident that I was quietly eating my favorite baon; pandesal with cheese. Then there is this bunch of tall girls who approached me and said I should not be eating pandesal for it is already late in the morning. I just look at her while I'm still chewing my food and just shrugged off my shoulders to her.

As you see, you may think I am a coward because I do not fight back and just totally ignore them. I did not that me not fighting would make my Mom mad at me. I went along grade school days,almost unnoticed but thankfully, I got to win some Friends. I was always the timid and quiet girl in class. I was obedient to everyone and as gullible as you think I can be. I know I am smart but I was also too nice to everyone that makes me stupid in many ways. Back in grade school I was at the school paper so we had some activities in the afternoon.So I have this girl classmate who ask me to accompany her every time we go home after school to the jeepney stop.But one day I do not want to do it anymore so what she did to make her follow her is to snatch my umbrella. I went home without my umbrella ans as I tell the whole story to my Mom, you know she was really furious. She told me that I should not let anyone do that to me. I did not want my Mom to scold my classmate and be called a "sumbungera' but my Mom would not let this things just pass by. So the next day my classmate got some serious scolding from my Mom and I got my umbrella back. I got to bully someone too. I remembered making a boy cry back in Grade One in the middle of our class because he is making up stories and I told everyone he is lying.

The good part of being bullied is that eventually you learn to fight for yourself or just learn to accept that some people really do want to bully to see their power over somebody else. The worst part is you became a scared and meek person all your life, you lose your self-esteem and will forever be under the shadows of those bullies. Another thing is you learn to take grudges on everyone who belittles you and you take revenge just to get even. It is always either way. Either you take the good side or the evil side. There are a lot of psychological studies why someone bullies or how someone respond to bullying. They say no one will do bullying of you would not let them or the bully themselves had experience it also. On my part I do not fight back. I have mastered the response of just ignoring them. I hate fighting and besides what good will it bring me. I would just feel bad in return. I think people just have to know how to respond and not give out an abrupt reaction. It is hard to stay true to our hearts and be kind to everyone around but someday soon our kindness will change someone or something in the world we lived in.