The Secret Leaves of My Notebook
Page after page, I wrote your name in my journal,
With flowers and bees drawn in rhythm of blue;
“I love you” I said in calligraphy of black and red,
But no page was ever torn to hand them to you.
Then I sketched your hair down to your shoulder,
And I adore your eyes staring at me so life like;
The curl of your lips that I couldn’t wait to kiss
Got your gentle smile that made me like a thief;
A thief full of wonder when he will ever get caught
By glints of those eyes just for once to lay upon his,
As he pretends to sip his coke just to steal them out
From the silence of your selfishness, he cries! Cries!
So, he jeweled your ears with rather less expensive,
Enough that he drew something as simple as gold,
For he was just a poor boy who cannot afford to give,
Rubies, diamonds, emeralds, pearl s were too bold.
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poem by Efren Petalver Carranza
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A Glance From The Past
…. And the music played… and so the lyrics moved….
This heart… and in this heart, I am living in the past:
I saw not my father's heart or his arms around me;
Neither his hand dug into morsels of rice to my lips,
Nor his belt to my butt or bamboo whips to my skin,
But his fingers ran through my hair when I had sinned.
His path to follow his love which I knew not then,
His strength to stand with feet in muddled ground,
It's not how he walked barefooted on a slippery-road
But to carry me from dirt, on his shoulder, he would.
His voice, when authority spoke, either high or low,
To command his carabao, it wasn't his power to show,
With no fear under rain, lightning, or thunder's sound,
I am this farmer's son and his valor for me was unbound.
It wasn't all of what he knows best that I must learn,
Toil a soil, drive a nail, paddle a raft, or centavo to earn,
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poem by Efren Petalver Carranza
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Beware of What Your CP Can Do
Just after dusk before Pacquiao’s fight,
An alarm went off on my townhouse street;
It sounded like mine, so I lagged my FB fit,
Rushed out and saw an old lady’s in fright.
What had caused that big bang? I got no clue;
Except that poor old lady would only know.
“Are you alright? ” I asked her with all my pity.
“Yes! ” she replied as she trembled with plea.
“No, don’t call the police or I’ll be in trouble.”
So, I asked no more than just to console her;
A glass of water or a chair to calm her a little;
Instead, she thanked me for not yelling at her.
God is truly good or I can’t forgive myself,
To let the old lady drove her white Mercury,
For I saw no damages to my Escape itself,
‘Til a young man came to check his Chevy;
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poem by Efren Petalver Carranza
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All of My Greatest Thanks!
Let my heart speaks to you now, my brothers
Sisters who raised me by the absence of mother
That weaned my childhood's ignorance of death
And of which love I had yet to learn since birth
My mind while it's still unsullied to its buoy
Fields of memories wherein my boyhood a coy
Pieces of right and wrong, like a puzzle to fit
One picture, at the end, you molded me right
Though I envy your children, siblings of my father
You shared all your wisdom as if I am one of yours
To grandpa who stilled me yet all my fears
And grandma who embraced me to be braver
Siblings of my mother you all fed my hunger
Though I know not I was a bee of your shelter
To grandma who taught me the value of sharing
And the diktat of how to wait with patience
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poem by Efren Petalver Carranza
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Summer’s Delight
As the sun grins from the sky clear and silent,
Melts the snow covered mountains and sent,
To the hills, to the river, to the sea, thus enter,
Summer is here to act upon the idle of winter.
Once a beach that was dull without a quest,
The waves begun to unravel the frozen sand,
The pelicans’ greetings raised lenient guests,
This is the beauty; the grandeur of this land.
Like the monomania of baseball lovers hear,
Their triumphs from backyards to the parks,
Their roars, their applause, cheer after cheer
Are noises of summer, as it delightfully marks,
The calendar flipped once more on 4th of July,
Freedom is Reason! As smokes from the grill
Trekked up into the sky that we can still smell
Even fireworks bursting, yet no one can deny.
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poem by Efren Petalver Carranza
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The Essence of Time
When hopes may not come after your prayers are done,
Lose not thy faith when trouble stirs your calmed mind;
Your weaknesses must die in every clasp of your hands,
But in thy words of wisdom be your path and guidelines.
Let your arms spread like wings to your highest dreams,
As high as a mountain to climb while with aching limbs;
For the greatnesses of it are the rewards you will obtain,
In full prize to own and that no one else can ever claim.
When sorrow reddens your eyes, let that teardrops fall,
Like rain, it helps one life to grow every now and then;
As each life God gave, it has its beginning and it'll end;
In prayers, we ask for more, yet we'll never know when.
A blissful time to laugh, laugh as hard as anyone can,
For a moment such like this, any day may never come;
A simple gesture, a smile, or love that you had shared,
One might find you appealing to keep as a good friend.
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poem by Efren Petalver Carranza
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A Voice of Reason
As I fiddled her words from the start
Her intellectual voice cried out loud
That tore my heart and fall apart
For this little town to make us proud
Her bravery makes sense to listen
Straight forward without hesitation
To the point that CHANGE is a must
For NEW officials whom they can trust
Hear! Here, I repeat what she uttered
Life of her and the people she cared
Poor of the poorest to walk on a road
Unpaved yet a promise wasn't fulfilled
On a rusted playground, no child is safe
Unclean restrooms, they hover bad whiff
"What must be done? " She questioned them
"What's in their pocket if not gold of shame? "
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poem by Efren Petalver Carranza
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Me and My Mouse
[Discovering the Hidden Beauty of Bani]
In each click, screen to screen, we're travelers
To Philippines where I left nearly four decades
Exploring her hidden beauty is so much to bear
Upon my eyes to enjoy pictures as it cascades
Our voyage to places where I have never been
As fruitful as if I was there scene after scene
Much ado to disagree between real and unreal
Though for sure, nothing differs if life's swell
So my mouse took me home where I was born
An old town then, now her beauty has grown
Like the beaches of Olanen, Tubong, and Surip
Places I had not known yet to swim I skipped
Natives say if USA has Grand Canyon and Falls
Then my mouse brought me to Baliwanga Falls
Since this falls' depth and beauty of Bani now exist
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poem by Efren Petalver Carranza
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A Piece Of Opinion For The 99% Occupy
The selfish-rich may not see or understand
How a man reaches the depth of his pocket
Fiddles these coins on the palm of his hand
And looks for grace of his hunger and thirst
Passers may have doubts how he’d become
The resident on the aisle of city’s sidewalks
As he lays on a cardboard box as his home
Others think he’s a “stench” by media’s talks
Listen to this country’s expenses to others
But not for those who once paid their taxes
Like parents supporting sons of their brothers
And not for their children’s future and success
Companies that outsource jobs to “La-Lands”
Care nothing about workers but high profits
Not knowing they cannot buy their products
If unemployment keeps rising to the highest
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poem by Efren Petalver Carranza
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My Old Hometown
Long before it became a city-like,
The chirps of the crickets at night,
And the crows of the roosters at dawn,
Sunrise, mid-sun, sunset,
Is how we told time
In this place now I call it
My old hometown
So before sunrise melts the morning mists,
‘Till it sets across the mountains,
We farmed as hard as we could,
But no matter how poor life is,
This place was my paradise.
Like the crowns of acacia and tamarind trees
And the arcs of bamboo poles
That looks like a tunnel to the south
Made this place enchanting to my memories,
Down by the valley onward to the northwest,
Along the cradle of its crystal lake,
With choir of birds and scents of ilang-ilang,
There! It remained the life of my childhood.
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poem by Efren Petalver Carranza
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