POEMS FOR INSPIRATION : M A N I L A

20 March 2023

M A N I L A

Poetic Hearts Collaboration

MANILA

Gus:

Nestled in the bossom of the Orient's Pearl is a city

A premier metropolis with astounding progeny

Manila, a dream city of Asiatic ancestry

Here lies our genetic heritage ensconced diversity.

Leah 1

Your beauty is enchanting that holds captive of everyone's heart

Thus transcends admiration and inspiration

Invoke by the glory of your enviable greatness

You're the gateway to paradise beyond.

Gus:

Landmarks and landscapes make up its shores and skylines

A mixture of dialects, a myriad of cultures intertwines

Ngunit dito sa lunsod, sadyang mahirap ang buhay

Survival of the fittest, wika nga, matira ang matibay.

Leah 2

The vintage gems of the architects' prowess still probe their grandeur and pride

So is the iconic brainchilds of Bagong Lipunan that awed the world by far.

Dito sa lungsod bawat tao'y nais magsapalaran

Luha, sipon at pawis ang siyang kaakibat sa minimithing kaunlaran.

Gus:

Migration and diaspora, a prevalent aspect of human existence

Life's challenges abound, a choice, a resolve just to make sense

Lilisanin at iiwan mo ang lahat, pamilya at tahanan

Upang sa banyagang lupain magsikap makipagsapalaran

Leah 3

As preparation meets opportunity come to those seeking the green pastures.

Others greet misfortunes by a handshake and return home with broken dreams

Kung sino pa ang banyaga sa sariling bayan ang siya pang tagapagmulat

Kung wala lang sanang pamahalaang korap, pangarap ay matutupad.

Gus:

Manila, from distant shores you're always on my mind

Katangian mong sakdal ganda at ningning, di ko malimutan

Through fate's decree, if I may roam and wander to far away lands

Babalikang muli, iniwang tahanan, at bayang sinilangan.

Leah 4

Malayo man ang narating ko ikaw pa rin ang nasa puso ko

Bandila mo ang siya kong kaulayaw sa oras na ako'y nalulumbay

However sad that modern times brought disturbing changes to our values

I still wear the feather of loyalty and love you in the depths of my soul.

Authored by

Gus Perez Amio

Leah C Dancel

Manila, Philippines

Sydney, Australia

Feedbacks:

Wow!! Just as I thought. We'll be doing great. Thanks for this astounding and wondrous product of our poetic imagination. Can't wait to post it... Waiting for the collage. 😁😄😃 from Gus Perez Amio

"Para akong nagbasa ng magandang kwento na namumutiktik ng iba't ibang karanasan sa buhay tungo sa tagumpay para sa mahal na pamilya at pagmamahal sa sariling bayan. Napakaganda ng pagkakalahad ng kwento, ate. Congratulations na agad. 👏👏👏" From Cherrie Facun Dancel

Manila in Retrospect

Original Pilipino Music

MANILA

Maraming beses na kitang nilayasan

Iniwanan at iba ang pinuntahan

Parang babaeng ang hirap talagang malimutan

Ikaw lamang ang aking laging binabalikan

Manila, I keep coming back to Manila

Simply no place like Manila

Manila, I'm coming home

I've walked the streets of San Francisco

I've tried the rides in Disneyland

Dated a million girls in Sydney

Somehow I feel like I don't belong

Hinahanap hanap kita Manila

Ang ingay mong kay sarap sa tenga

Mga jeepney mong nagliliparan

Mga babae mong naggagandahan

Take me back in your arms Manila

And promise me you'll never let go

Promise me you' ll

never let go

Manila, Manila

Miss you like hell, Manila

No place in the world like Manila

I'm coming home to stay.

Beautiful memories of Manila with my cousin Jo Paulo's Family and FIS. And the church I worshipped in, the fellowship with Christian Youth group, friends and other relatives though not constant. My spontaneous solo travel around the Metropolis, my job at Redman and Get Well Drugs (San Juan and Quiapo), my landlady at Malate (Lola she was to me, a kindhearted elderly Chinese lady), my Apartment mates in Pasay, friendly staff at General Post Office Lawton, Postal Manager at Ermita Mr. Joe Carino, the Manila Bulletin, Metro Theatre Kodak Shop and my sister Ruth in San Mateo, Rizal, my workmates, my bosses, and office guests. Everything about Manila. And Aling Noemi's, kumare who made my wedding dress, my stepdaughter's lovely dress, and my fiance's wedding Barong style shirt same with my step son. And Joe Lim of PAL who facilitated my VIP entry to the plane and most of all, Retired RAF Major Pat O'Donnell.

Raquel Geralde Villanueva you are at the top of the list! I'm forever grateful to you.

MANILA

Gus:

Nestled in the bossom of the Orient's Pearl is a city

A premier metropolis with astounding progeny

Manila, a dream city of Asiatic ancestry

Here lies our genetic heritage ensconced diversity.

Leah 1

Your beauty is enchanting that holds captive of everyone's heart

Thus transcends admiration and inspiration

Invoke by the glory of your enviable greatness

You're the gateway to paradise beyond.

Gus:

Landmarks and landscapes make up its shores and skylines

A mixture of dialects, a myriad of cultures intertwines

Ngunit dito sa lunsod, sadyang mahirap ang buhay

Survival of the fittest, wika nga, matira ang matibay.

Leah 2

The vintage gems of the architects' prowess still probe their grandeur and pride

So is the iconic brainchilds of Bagong Lipunan that awed the world by far.

Dito sa lungsod bawat tao'y nais magsapalaran

Luha, sipon at pawis ang siyang kaakibat sa minimithing kaunlaran.

Gus:

Migration and diaspora, a prevalent aspect of human existence

Life's challenges abound, a choice, a resolve just to make sense

Lilisanin at iiwan mo ang lahat, pamilya at tahanan

Upang sa banyagang lupain magsikap makipagsapalaran

Leah 3

As preparation meets opportunity come to those seeking the green pastures.

Others greet misfortunes by a handshake and return home with broken dreams

Kung sino pa ang banyaga sa sariling bayan ang siya pang tagapagmulat

Kung wala lang sanang pamahalaang korap, pangarap ay matutupad.

Gus:

Manila, from distant shores you're always on my mind

Katangian mong sakdal ganda at ningning, di ko malimutan

Through fate's decree, if I may roam and wander to far away lands

Babalikang muli, iniwang tahanan, at bayang sinilangan.

Leah 4

Malayo man ang narating ko ikaw pa rin ang nasa puso ko

Bandila mo ang siya kong kaulayaw sa oras na ako'y nalulumbay

However sad that modern times brought disturbing changes to our values

I still wear the feather of loyalty and love you in the depths of my soul.

Authored by

Gus Perez Amio

Leah C Dancel

Manila, Philippines

Sydney, Australia

Hour of Elegance

ABOUT A POETESS
(Dedicatory Poem by Yesu Ben)

Between love child's great mind and those
of our earth is a middle course,
A mid point hence the bridge be cast
from our side halfway mooring mast.

Within her mind’s a mystery
of intersecting unplumbed force
She reads the mind of sun and moon
and those which conduct seasons' course,

the manners of the stars and worlds,
their births, and deaths, and their returns.
That bipeds we be or some such,
let intellect light up and burn.

obscure to seen, atom to star
a lavish flash, don’t your eyes blink.
what veiled romance keeps her pen filled
with mighty heaven's wondrous ink?

12 October 2018

GREAT POET

"The greatest poet is one who knows one when she sees one. Like a doctor, she dissects one with an incisive mind and can immediately can tell if it is malignant or cancerous. She probes the mind of the poet and looks into the gray matter whether it is infused with wisdom or not. She looks into the heart of the poet, and you know when she is affected by what she reads when she comments with her emojis. ...Rare breed this poet of our contemporary times. Congratulations Leah Dancel!" ~Crispulo Bacud Tappa

FOOTPRINTS IN THE SAND

One night I had a dream.  

I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord..

  Across the sky flashed scenes from my life.. 

For each scene,

I noticed two sets of  footprints in the sand, 

one belonging to me,

and the other to the Lord..

When the last scene of my life flashed before me, 

I looked back at the footprints in the sand. 

I noticed that many times along the path of my life 

there was only one set of footprints. 

I also noticed that it happened at the very lowest 

and saddest times in my life.

This really bothered me  and I questioned the Lord about it: "Lord, you said that once I decided to follow you, 

you'd walk with me all the way. 

But I have noticed that

during the most  troublesome times in my life  

there is only one set of footprints. 

I don't understand why  when I need you most

you would leave me."

The Lord replied: 

"My precious child, I love you

and would never leave you.

 During your times of trial and suffering, 

when you see only one set of footprints,

it was then  that I carried you."

by Mary Stevenson

DESIDERATA

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender be on good terms
with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others, even the dull and ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater
and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let not this blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the council of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be.
And whatever your labours and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life
keep peace with your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful, strive to be happy.

~Max Ehrmann~

Serenity Prayer

by Reinhold Niebuhr

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to accept things I can change, and
Wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time,
Enjoying one moment at a time,
Accepting hardships as a pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is;
not as I would have it;
Trusting that He would make all things right;
if I surrender to His will,
That I may be reasonably happy in this life,
and extremely happy with Him forever in the next.

Amen.

FRIENDS

To start off as a stranger

And turn into a friend,

Is rather like a story

That has a happy end!

But this is just beginning -

A friendship bright and new,

Which is happy in the present,

And holds future promise, too!

~Elizabeth Gozney~

BEATING HEART

THE PUREST PLACE

The Bible says

20 March 2023

M A N I L A

FIERCE WARRIOR

DARE and DREAM

A BIRTHDAY SURPRISE

INSPIRATION

PEACEFUL MOMENT

Poetry for Inspiration

Hour of Elegance

LOVING WISHES

MY DREAM BOAT

Leaves of Wisdom

Three Score 2010

Only The Best

The Eagle

Blog Archive

GREAT POET

FOOTPRINTS IN THE SAND

DESIDERATA

Serenity Prayer

Gallery