Erna Yarre

 

I Can Touch the Skies

I can touch the skies,
But I can't touch you.
I can see the dawn,
But I can't see you.
I can catch the moon,
But I can't catch you.
I want to sit beside you,
But you walk away.
But later,
You call me
Because you miss me to.
****8song, Sept. 25, 2013
Revised: Sept. 27, 2020

Last Night

Last Night

***Melchor F. Cichon

Sept. 17, 2020

Last night

I vowed to forget you.

But this morning

When I saw your smiling picture

In my wallet,

I remembered how we awed

Seeing the rising full moon

At Boracay Beach;

How we enjoyed

Seeing the setting sun

At Jawili Falls.

Now I know

I can't forget you

Even just for a moment.

Alam Namin

 

Alam Namin
Ni Melcichon
February 9, 2014

Alam naming nag-aral ka ng PhD
At kami'y hanggang Grade One, Section 10 lang;
Alam naming kasing bilis ng kidlat ka kung magtratrabaho
At kami'y mga pagong;
Alam naming kasing talas ng samurai ang dila mo
At ang amin ay pangal;
Alam naming ala-Mt. Everest ang tayog ng talino mo
At ang amin ay below the sea level;
Alam naming ala-tigre ang tinig mo
At ang amin ay ala-tupa.

Pero alam mo ba na tao rin kami
At may pakiramdam din?
At kung puno na ang gantangan
Ay marunong din kaming magpantay nito?
At alam mo ba na lahat ng pisi
Ay may dulo din
At napuputol din ito sa kakabanat?
At alam mo ba na ang tahimik na lawa
Ay nakakalunod din?

 

 

Haiga, Aiza B. Beso

 

My Tiny Thoughts

My Tiny Thoughts: Make Anger as an Inspiration
***Melchor F. Cichon
Sept. 16, 2020

I have developed this saying: You can be a lightning without producing a thunder. This saying has been my guideline wherever I am.

Like any other human beings, I also get angry. But I have a five-story stocking area for my angers. Hence whenever someone degrades me even in front of other people, I just keep quiet although my heart is breaking and my blood pleasure is rising beyond the 140/90mmHg level. When that happens, I become creative. It gives me inspiration for my poem. There was a time when someone kept on insulting me in front of other people. A few days after that I wrote this poem:

Alam Namin
Ni Melcichon

Alam naming nag-aral ka ng PhD
At kami'y hanggang Grade One, Section 10 lang;
Alam naming kasingbilis ka ng kidlat kung magtrabaho
At kami'y mga pagong;
Alam naming kasing talas ng samurai ang dila mo
At ang amin ay pangal;
Alam naming ala-Mt. Everest ang tayog ng talino mo
At ang amin ay below the sea level;
Alam naming ala-tigre ang tinig mo
At ang amin ay ala-tupa.

Pero alam mo ba na tao rin kami
At may pakiramdam din?
At kung puno na ang gantangan
Ay marunong din kaming magpantay nito?
At alam mo ba na lahat ng pisi
Ay may dulo din
At napuputol din ito sa kakabanat?

 

 

My Tiny Thoughts: My Cooking Problem

***Melchor F. Cichon

Sept. 14, 2020

I am the youngest of nine siblings.

Because of this, most of the house duties were done by my elder brothers and sisters. As a result, I do not know how to cook Filipino dishes like adobo, pochero, sinigang, menudo and other Filipino dishes that are served during fiestas and birthdays. Of course, my favorite foods to prepare are boiled eggs, fried eggs, simple sinigang. My expertise is in rice cooking. But I can wash and iron my clothes and those of my family.

When I found a stable job, I thought of looking for a lifetime partner. But I was also thinking of my inadequacy in the kitchen. If she happens to be like me, the problem, I said, could be solved by buying our foods from the nearby restaurants or carinderias. But then that would be costly. We could learn cooking foods through recipe books. You tube was not invented then yet.

Fortunately, I met my Parayaw, Bing, who learned cooking from her aunt and later took lessons on a Filipino and international cuisine.

So my cooking problem was solved. She also taught our children how to cook adodo, pochero, sinigang, menudo and other Filipino dishes. So when we have birthday celebrations in our house, my wife and our children do the cooking while I do the washing of the dishes.

With the presence of this Covid-9 pandemic in our midst, Bing's expertise in cooking has helped us in our daily survival. She cooks and sells pork and chicken molo balls, chicken cordon bleu and chicken galantena.

So I think that God really fills up the inadequacy of a partner to make their family a happy family.

 

Sept 14, 2020
My Tiny Thoughts

Thank You, Lord for the New Challenges
by Melcichon
September 14, 2014

Let’s close our eyes and feel the presence of our Lord.
Lord, we are so thankful to you Lord, for this moment you have allowed us to gather here to hear with open arms and open minds of whatever new information and new challenges that our high officials will give us.
Bless us oh Lord with firm hands in handling whatever cross we will encounter in the following days to come, so that our missions and vision for a healthy community will be truly accomplished. And when that happens, our country will be more progressive for they say a healthy mind with a healthy body will greatly boast the developmental programs of our Department and of our country.
With this in mind, we joyfully say, thank you Lord for your blessings.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

 

My Tiny Thoughts: Fish Eyes
***Melchor F. Cichon
Sept. 13, 2020

Every time we cook fish like milkfish, tuna or snapper, I usually prefer its head. I like to sip its eyes. For me it is yummy. And I wonder why fish eyes are delicious to eat.
Because of that, I wanted to know the secret behind the fish eyes. Through my research, I learned that indeed fish eyes are nutritious. It has omega 3 fatty acid which are beneficial to our health.
1. It improves our vision.
2. It helps in the prevention of heart attack, stroke and related condition.
3. It treats depression and it acts as antidepressant.
4. It protects the health of the brain.
5. It relieves inflammation.
6. It prevents diabetes because of the presence of vitamin D.
7. It increases the quality of sleep. Also because of the presence of vitamin D.
8. It relieves joint pain
9. It prevents asthma in children.
10. It lowers cholesterol, particularly the bad cholesterol
11. It reduces the risk of cancer such as digestive, oral cavity, pharynx, colon and pancreas cancer.
12. It reduces the risk autoimmune diseases
13. It increases metabolism
14. It improves concentration or attention.
Next time we buy fish, let us always remember the health benefits we can get from the fish eyes.

Source: https://drhealthbenefits.com/…/fish/health-benefits-of-fish…. Retrieved: Sept. 13, 2020.

 Sept. 12, 2020
My Tiny Thoughts
***Melchor F. Cichon

It's difficult to study away from your parents or siblings who financially support your studies. There are many times when your allowance does not come on time, especially so when you needed it most like you have to pay your boarding house or buy your foods. There are times when you can borrow money from your friends or from your relatives, but then if you cannot pay them on time it will be difficult to borrow money again from them.

When I studied in UP Diliman, my parents were in Aklan while my elder brothers who occassionally sent me my allowance were in Zamboanga City. The other problem was that my mother was a house-wife while my father was a municipal treasurer who received not more than two hundred pesos a month and my elder brothers had their own families, hence many times my allowance would come one or two weeks late. At that time the cost of one ganta of rice was only P0.60. To save money, at times I had to take my breakfast at ten in the morning and took my lunch at four in the afternoon to cover my dinner. I would be lucky if some of my friends would give me biscuits.

One lunch time, I took my meal at the U.P. University Canteen. While taking my lunch, I noticed that one of the canteen helpers was my classmate. After my lunch, I approached him and asked him how he was able to work at the canteen. He told me that he approached the Canteen Manager and inquired if he could work in the canteen as a student assistant. He was accepted and was assigned as a helper at the University Canteen. The next day, I went to the said Canteen Manager to apply also as a student assistant at the canteen. Luckily I was accepted. I was assigned at the Narra Residence Hall canteen. My work schedule was from 5 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., Monday to Friday. My duty was to serve rice to the canteen buyers. After the dinner services to the clientele, I would take my free supper. After which I would mop the floor of the whole dining hall. In exchange for my two-hour work each day as a student assistant, I would have free breakfast, free lunch, free dinner, plus free merienda in the morning and in the afternoon from Monday to Sunday. And I could choose the foods I wanted to eat from the leftover in the canteen. That was how I solved my food problem. But I resigned from my work at the canteen after I received my first salary as a library assistant at the U.P. Main Library. That first employment of mine as a library assistant at the U.P. Main Library was the start of my lifetime career as a librarian.

My Tiny Thought
***Melchor F. Cichon
Sept. 12, 2020

Many Filipino parents would not suggest to their children to take up library science or librarianship as a profession. They think that this profession is boring and the salary is below than that of nursing, education graduates. But if we look at the compensation of librarians in public schools, colleges and universities, we would be surprised to know that the salaries of librarians especially if one is employed in state colleges and universities, their salaries are equal or even much higher than that of a nurse. If we look at the salary standardization law of 2019 of the government employees, we will know that Salary Grade 18 librarians receive P42,159.00 a month aside from other benefits. That was my Salary Grade when I was College Librarian III at UP Visayas College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, although that was before the implementation of RA 11466. Even then, I was receiving more than twenty thousand pesos a month aside from other benefits from the government like rice allowance, Christmas bonuses, vacation and sick leaves which could be converted into cash if they are not used.

As I said earlier that some parents would say that librarianship is boring. That's depends on one's perception. But librarianship is a challenging job. You will be involved in managing your staff. You will be challenged to write research proposals, prepare budget proposals, write your monthly and annual reports, prepare indexes, bibliographies, catalog books. You will be dealing with different students and faculty members and help them find the needed information and data for their academic requirements.

And if you are a writer you will find your library your great source of ideas for your journalistic and literary write-ups. And that is my advantage for I can read a lot of books, journals, magazines, newspapers free of charge. As a result, my stock of knowledge has widened.

Another good thing for being a librarian especially when you treat your library clientele with respect and dignity, and you professionally help them in their information needs, later when these students have become professionals in their respective fields of endeavors, they can help you too. I have experienced this. When I visit government or private institutions, my needs are easily met because some of the former students whom I helped before while they were still in college would gratefully extend their help to me. One good example was when I underwent a colon operation. I did not know that the surgeon was a former student of the institution where I worked as a librarian. He reduced his professional fee to one half.

 

Sept. 11, 2020

My Tiny Thoughts
Melchor F. Cichon

Although I graduated as an honor student in high school, but when I entered U.P. Diliman for my first college degree, I really found it very difficult to catch up with my English I class. My English was faulty. When I got back my submitted essays, they were filled up with red marks. But I did not give up. Fortunately, I met my high school classmate. He too had the same problem as mine. And he too did not give up. We decided to buy a book, English for Filipinos, by Jean Edades. Together we studied that book. To test our English skill, we wrote letters to the editors of the Manila Times, Philippines Graphic, Philippine Panorama, Philippines Free Press, and the Philippine Collegian. Many of our letters were returned to us with Rejection Slips. But we continued sending more letters to the editors. Fortunately some of them were published. Then I tried sending poems to these magazines. Fortunately too some of them were published. The first Aklanon poem ever published in the Philippine Collegian was written by me. Of course, I was so happy to see my bylines in national magazines. By then, I knew my English has improved. So I told myself: Be consistent and persistent with your desire and soon you will achieve your goal.

Sept. 10, 2020

My Tiny Thoughts
Melchor F. Cichon

When I was in the elementary grades, many of my classmates would laugh at me because I could hardly read the words our teachers would ask us to read. I did not get mad at them. But I promised myself to improve myself. So when I was in high school, I befriended my bright classmates. From them I learned that instead of staying outside of their houses with their barkada, they spent most of their time studying their lessons. I followed their habit. Later in college, I spent most of my time in the library reading and writing essays and poems. I also attended several poetry writing workshops.That improved my skills in writing until I was able to compile my poems. Now I have several published books on poetry and have received the 2001 Gawad Pambansang Alagad ni Balagtas Award presented by the Unyon ng mga Manunulat sa Pilipinas (UMPIL), the first Aklanon to receive that award. Hopefully, many of my elementary classmates especially those who used to laugh at me are also writers.

 

Sept. 9, 2020

My Tiny Thoughts
Melchor F. Cichon

There are times when you feel that you are smaller than the mustard seed. But then, you feel that although you are that tiny thing, you can be as big as Andre the Giant. Just do what you wish to do as long as it is not against the law. In the end, people will appreciate and honor you.

 

 

 

 

Haiga, K-Joy Pagunsan

haiku, Paghalin Mo

kon siin-siin ta rang piniino nasab-it
paghalin mo
O, Parayaw
--Melchor F. Cichon
Sept. 4, 2020

haiga, Precious Nadhine Bonifacio Inguillo