A Colorful Life

 The Unsung Chase

Elementary Days 

Enrolled in an Elementary School

Took writing, reading, and music

Pictures were posted on the wall

Watched the baton: that's the teacher's trick,

It's fun to be small, agile, and smart

In Boy Scouting, you are at the top

Pyramid building is where you start

To excel that no one can stop.

High School Years

Looming ahead is the high school years

You find yourself taking the P.M.T.

For discipline and to erase the fears

But lessons learned will forever stay.

Catholic school: freshman to junior 

Senior: Ateneo all-boys school

And last night high school at this juncture

Another step in life to endure.

College  Education

Med-Tech was poised to be in Manila

But circumstance altered the plan

Took drafting instead at Zamboanga

School of Arts and Trades was near at hand.

Then work for a Captain's persuasion

To maneuver the Pilot's tugboat

So foreign ships anchored by the ocean

Be given a berth at Zamboanga's port. 

From the ocean to Bukidnon's heartland

Nestled a College far from the highway

A meatless diet and discipline are grand

Work, study, and temptation held sway.

Adventist baptism in a river

Announcing salvation to the barrio

But realized this was hard to adhere

And what I learned changed the scenario.

Back home a Parish priest came to visit

To offer a Seminary study

Pending on the Bishop to submit

The transcript to the Seminary.

Of the three, two pursued on the offer

With two days of stay at Dumaguete

Hope Bishop Surban may help and muster

Graces and mercy to let me be.

And the ship was docked at Manila's port

Two Jesuit priests welcome us on their Jeep

But my Seminary days were  so short

Those lessons learned were for me to keep.

Despite the good offer from the school

Of a Vatican scholarship

But there's a writing on the wall

And indeed this is a strong relief.

To Sweet Home via Cotabato

First class by M/V Filipinas

Compliments of just a passing through

In finite life's many arenas.

Back to the greenfield where the air is fresh;

Rare, strong connections are everywhere

And life and beauty are in the flesh

 Yet Love matters: Home of lasting care. 

The itch was there but the school was far
The boat plied the sea to the city

In my mind, there was a tug-of-war
The target's aim was what's best for me.

The courses catered to the taste
But I must consider what's the best
So the study must not go to waste
Time is vital to prove to the test.

I enrolled in the Commerce course
Took Accounting, Law, and Statistics
To my delight, it was a great source
Of enlightenment to my studies.

Then I shifted to Education
Learned Argumentation and Debate
That offered me great admiration
 And nobody can really abate.

The Debate's day was all smiles and alive
The gym was filled with spectators
The Lawyers failed and didn't survive
The prize went to the Educators.

Graduation Day looms by the hour
To my dismay, the Dean was mad at me
I can't march because he has the power
Yet the election could set me free.

The Election proved that I was not bad
But a rebellious student with a cause
Doing what is the mandate of God
The constitution and its by-laws.

I have to find a guest Speaker
City Mayor Climaco can't come
But we have a leader and seeker
R. Canivel, of P.M.C. a chum.

He is the Muslim College recruiter
Of a Band leader and educator
I got the college and the School paper
We were liked and loved by Jolo's mayor.

.

Life's Lessons

 GT's JOURNAL    

"It takes half your life before you discover

life is a do-it-yourself project." - Napoleon Hill. 

(Author: Think and Grow Rich)

 The Taming of the Wildland

My dear friends, Life is never fun

During my days you have to rise

Early before the rising sun

Makes you healthy, active, and wise.

I have to pasture the carabao

A helping hand to plow the field

As in the farm you have to bow

To nature as you drive the sled.

Plowing the field is a happy time

The carabao is at your command

Pushing the plow within the slime

You are the king of the farmland.

The untouched field of grass and bushes 

Becomes a valued place for corn and rice

But fire will soon blaze them to ashes

Faith and care are the farmers' advice.

The brook and stream glide on their way

While hungry heron and kingfisher

Wait for the mudfish to go astray

But daily the mudfish grow wiser.