abo sa dila

and here's what I say:

God's not into sadness. He says it's a waste of time.

So, the grief I feel almost every day,

what Buddha says we've got coming to us,

should not be all that drives these--

what shall I call them?-- earned poems.

I don't know if this proves it but I just came off the beach

with my dog, Walt. The whole way out and back

in a cool rain he ran from scent to luxurious scent,

poking his nose into washed-up seaweed,

rolling in what was left of a dead seagull, rotten fish,

pissing on those things worthy of it

and almost everything was.

I'm trying to learn from my little dog

that there is nothing that is not God, is not here

for our happiness. Me, all the time I'm sunk down

in my wet jacket, unforgiving of a botched love

while he pesters me with a soggy stick, tells me

to throw it, please throw it.

- Tom Crawford, from "Wu Wei: Poems"

The House of Representatives voted to approve the Con-Ass resolution tonight. Basically, it's a big "Fuck off" to the Senate regarding the Cha-cha issue. It's a big "Fuck off" to every decent, thinking Filipino, which I think is the other 90+ million who hate Gloria's guts. 

Basically it's a big "Fuck off" to anyone who thinks that they can stop Gloria from holding on to power. It's a big "Fuck off" to me, and to you.

Well, we're not just about ready to fuck off.

Butch G., a friend from the UP Workshop, says, "Grabe... Hindi ako tibak. Pero naniniwala akong may mga isyung hindi pwedeng palagpasin. Isa ito sa mga hindi pwedeng ikebs. Grrrr. what do we do?"

To start with? Everything we can. 

You remember that thing, that one thing you can do well, and believe that it's worth doing, and hold on to it for goddamn life, and do it, do it the best way you can. You do it while thinking how fucking angry you are at this mess your congressmen got you in, and you let your rage drive you forward. You write about it if you're a writer. You sing about it if you're a singer.You make it known that you will not stand idly by, that you will not keep watching those goddamn sex videos and reading those goddamn tarpaulins that say "Ramdam na ang Kaunlaran," when all the while those fucking assholes in congress are scheming to keep the hungry hungry, the poor poor, the rich so fucking fat and insulated from what you see everyday on your way to your thankless job. You do everything you can.

And you don't, you never, fuck off.  You strap those boots on and go to the streets and scream at the top of your lungs. You tell those assholes, "No, YOU fuck off. This is my country." 

*