The Poetry of My Life through My Writings and Journeys
The hallway of darkness
will eventually lead you
to the light
but still,
it depends
on the door you take
and the battles you fight
Choices
How confusing
when darkness sets in.
Decisions
How blinding
when you see the light from a far.
Perceptions
How bizarre
when your heart is at war.
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Copyright © 2015 Joys of Joel by Joel F. All Rights Reserved.
Joining our table and wrecking havoc on our plans. Denial of her affair with a younger man. “We’re just friends.” Raising eyebrows when you see them fighting in a dark flyover like robbers fighting for their share.
A few steps and quick glances. Assumption of friendship going beyond. No limits but voluntary borders and fake compromises, one can really tell. Oh, how love can play disguises in so many ways.
Free act like a stage drama being acted out in a play. Stolen glances, forced kisses like a crumpled paper about to be thrown away.
So we hear but we did not listen as the sound was explicitly given. Time to leave and pretend that we believe they were just friends.
A wink in his smile when he said he’s just a text away. Perhaps a tinge of truth for him , but a painful lie for her. Keeping his number is an option. After all, they’re just friends.
Copyright © 2015 Joys of Joel by Joel F. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright © 2015 Joys of Joel by Joel F. All Rights Reserved.
Funny how bitches behave bitchily by bitching about a bitch like me. – JoelF
Copyright © 2015 Joys of Joel by Joel F. All Rights Reserved.
The Hidden letters i can’t decipher,
until the leaves fell last october.
When you believe that it’s over
you can’t be friends nor lovers
because the trust was trashed and slashed
just let fate dictates the If’s and why’s.
Shit happens.
That’s Life.
Copyright © 2015 Joys of Joel by Joel F. All Rights Reserved.
You will never be truly free
if you are so obsessed
in what others see.
How they see you
is none of your business.
Who you are is what really matters.
Love is giving everyone the freedom
to be who they are
and not who you want them to be.
Learn to love yourself and set yourself free.
Copyright © 2015 Joys of Joel by Joel F. All Rights Reserved.
Short as life is, we make it still shorter by the careless whisper of time. And even if time can heal a broken heart, it can also break a waiting heart.
Waiting
like a stone
controlled emotions
you don’t own
Realization
had overshadowed
the hope that you’ve got balls
to break that shadow
The sun still shines
as i am mourning
but soon time flies
and i’ll be learning
that life’s too short
to be imprisoned
by your kisses
and deception
No waiting
no lies
you are the master
of disguise.
Just a simple cover i created for an incident that reminds me that the road is paved with good intentions but the “will” still lies on the motive beneath.
The tricks of the mind as it covers the night.
With no one in sight and no directions for guide.
Suddenly you feel a glow in the dark.
You followed the feel, the instinct inside.
A chirping sound, a cold freezing air,
as if someone is embracing you there.
You reached that part when you open the door,
a spiral stair occurs from nowhere.
You insist it’s not true, just a trick of your mind,
but how can it be when your eyes can’t lie?
You follow the steps of the spiral stair
believing that something else is out there.
You utter the words and say it in jest
for once you knew the power of a prayer.
A mixture of scents greet you as you wonder,
why candles surround a white box full of flowers.
As you step closer to look and discover,
a face of a friend reflected on the wall.
Vibrant lights and a galaxy of strobes
welcome you as a sense of peace engulfed your soul.
Two nights later a loud cymbal rang out from your phone.
A message was delivered but fear was not its tone.
You listened to the news
and utter a prayer.
You pick up the key from the spiral stair’s door
and open a threshold for whatever the future holds.-
Copyright © 2014 Joys of Joel by Joel F. All Rights Reserved.
I just watched the recent you tube video posted by Miss World 2013 Megan Young that went viral, with more than a million views in just a few days. It’s about a 28 year old filipina auditioning in Australia’s X Factor. I enjoyed watching it, not only because of her great voice but it also caught my attention somehow due to several reasons. one of them is “You Can Relate” to the circumstances she’s in. I don’t know, maybe it’s just my wild imagination but somehow i was touch while watching the video. let me say why. By the way, this is just my observation.
The Age and The Accent: She enters the stage and was asked by the judge how she is, she answered it with a not too australian accent. After asking her age, a male judge instantly asked her “Are you, Were you born in Australia?” She proudly replied “I’m from the Philippines”.(i’m touched by this, i’m proud of her!).. Perhaps it’s the accent that prompted the judge to ask that,, although she is not white, i don’t think the judge would ask that even if she has a brown skin if she speak with an australian twang as i ‘ve watch the other two filipino australian teenagers who auditioned recently and was never asked those things as the judge can see and hear clearly that the kids speak very australian. “Who’s here with you then” , a follow up question, you can see from the judge face that he’s perhaps clueless on why she’s there on the stage. When she said she’s with her family, and friends, nothing has change from the male judge’s expression until she said the word “husband”. The moment the male judge heard the word “husband” , now he lightens up, a smile in his face was visible as if something is going on in his mind. “How long have been married?” “2 years” the girl said. (I can’t read other people’s mind, so this is just my gut feel observation, and I hope i’m wrong). The girl might feel that the male judge might think that she married an old man, she instantly told him, without him asking her husband’s age, that her husband is 22 years old.Something that is not so common nowadays, a young Australian Guy marrying an older Filipina which proves again that Love knows no age. Then a female judge says “Cougar”, the lady replied with a funny statement and there you go, she got the audience laughing and the judges smiling with her sincerity.
Facebook and Love Searching: “How’d you meet? ask the male judge, the lady replied “Facebook”, now you can see the judges starting to like her, smile on their faces. She continue narrating that when she saw the guy’s photos on facebook, she gave him a message “You Look Good” and even say that she really want to catch that guy until the guy likes her. So natural, honest and sincere, that’s why it amused the judges who never in their wildest dream have imagined that someone on national television would admit that. Following a guy , catching him until he falls for her ..and she’s a woman! truly admirable! And call it mushy, Love is such a many splendored thing, one can go to great lengths just to find “the one”. And most of the times most people would hate to admit that we have a such certain longing, that at one point in our life, we tried going online to find that special someone either by using our facebook connections, other social media sites or logging on to dating websites! Yes, it’s universal and one shouldn’t be ashamed of that.
The Looks: After hearing the lady sings, a male judge confessed that he didn’t expect what he saw (or heard). He told her that when he saw her came out on the stage, he thought ,no way would she be able to sing. Why? What was his basis? What else but the looks, that physical outward appearance.. Which brings me to one thing that we all can relate to. First Impression! We all fall for this mistake once in a while when we judge people on how they look from the outside. I remember one time me and my friend were walking in downtown when a man with dirty torn clothes was walking towards us, i was texting someone when she said “your phone, put that in the bag” i look and got what she meant, as if that old guy will snatch my phone, but nope, he didn’t , he just happened to wear dirty torn clothes but it doesn’t mean he’s bad. That happened , we all fall for that, we judge people (most of the times by their status, how they look, how much they own etc).
The Song: She pick a good song, “Halo” by Beyonce Knowles. It blended well with her great voice and the lyrics, yes, the words in that song , one can feel that she meant it, she felt every line of it and the audience and the judges are not deaf to her emotions.Truly you can feel her emotions while she’s singing it. I was touched especially when she sings that line: “I found a way to let you in, But I never really had a doubt, Standing in the light of your halo, I got my angel now. …Everywhere I’m looking now, I’m surrounded by your embrace, Baby, I can see your halo, You know you’re my saving grace, You’re everything I need and more, It’s written all over your face, Baby, I can feel your halo, Pray it won’t fade away.”
She got a standing ovation from the judges .No wonder both the male judges say, they felt as if the lady owned the song, the way she delivers it. She has a powerful voice and she pick the right song. No matter how great one’s voice is, if she wasn’t able to pick a good song that suits her, it won’t be as touching as it would be. Just like in life, we survived not so much of our skills, but more of our will. When we learned to pick our battles and when we learned that we just have to look around us, realized that we’re not truly alone. For others it can be their loving partner, for some it could be their mom, dad, their kids, friends or even the Supreme Being, One thing is for sure, somehow, somewhere, SOMEONE’s gotta be your halo! – by JoelF
“Massacre! Germany cuts Brazil to pieces to advance to World Cup Finals.” Catchy Title, Painful Words. That’s how i see it when i got hold of a local daily featuring the World Cup Event blow by blow.
Now of course it’s all over the net what happened at the World Cup semi-finals. Brazil being crushed at their home turf and worst of all seeing their bitter rival Argentina reaching the finals. Netherlands being defeated by Argentina (thanks to Argentina’s goalkeeper Sergio Romero who was once groomed and trained by Netherland’s coach Louis Van Gaal (How Ironic!). “Penalties are always a matter of luck, and I taught Romero how to stop penalties so that hurts,” uttered by Netherland’s coach Van Gaal. Life is really full of ironies, No way would he ever imagine that someday his protege would crush his own dream.
And yes, it hurts, one can see the pain not only on the players and coaches but also on the spectators, watching and rooting for their teams, their country. You watch the World Cup and you can see tempers rising, emotions surging to a feverish squeal. No wonder it’s called Fever, World Cup Fever.
This brings me to the following question: Why is it so painful to lose? Well, different reasons for different people. Hard Work and Expectations. When you work so hard for something and you didn’t achieve what you want, it wounds you. When something you expected or wish never happened it kills you.
But just like all things that happened in the past, after that gloomy day, you learned to move on. Time heals all wounds they say. When the pain subsides, you learned to leave the past behind.
Just like the World Cup teams, come four years later, they’ll fight again and no matter what happened in the past, they’ll keep on fighting.
Galileo once said that the world is round, yes life defines the shape of the world … sometimes you’re up, sometimes you’re down but as long as you keep kicking, keep that ball rolling, keep going for that goal no matter how many penalties life throws at you (for the mistakes you’ve made) , you can still get that Cup, with or without fever! – By Joel F.
Copyright © 2014 Joys of Joel by Joel F. All Rights Reserved.
Years ago, i saw a double-decker bus in Rizal park, a park and amusement center in Manila. As a young child, i was so amazed to see a two storey bus, i wonder how it feels to ride on top of the deck and see the world from the top.
We were on the park walking when my dad told us that we will go to the circle to try the “bump ride”. My brother jump with joy finally knowing that he can experience driving an electric kiddie car .
The baby car where one can drive and use one’s skill to avoid bumping or should i say intentionally bump others so you can have fun. A very typical kiddie male kind of thing, driving and bumping to satiates one’s thrill glands. You wouldn’t call it a “Bump A Car Ride” if you always end up avoiding a bump, that won’t be fun at all.
My parents were surprised when i told them i don’t like that ride. I’d rather ride the bus, pointing to the double decker bus that ply all over the street.
My mom said, “you want to ride the love bus?” , I nod and say “yes.” (Love Bus? I was wondering how come it was called The Love Bus when its color was blue, it should have been painted red as red is the color of love.)
Yes, red is the color of love. I see red roses being sold outside my school during valentines. Santa Claus wears red and he loves us all kids. Red love letters, rosy red cheeks when you blushed and all those red wines associated with a candlelit dinner during valentines.
Years later, i realized why the love bus is blue because sometimes love can make your world so blue after making you so red!
After trying the bump ride , my parents finally agreed to try the Love Bus after pestering them (pardon my word) with “I don’t want a candy , i want to ride the love bus, i don’t like to eat that burger, i want to ride that bus!”( I’m not really a brat, i just know what i want.)
Imagine my excitement when we climb the stairs of the bus and finally reaching the top. Although manila is not filled with tall buildings that time, i was bewildered seeing the clouds, looking up, looking down at the jeepneys that ply the street, the cool breeze of the wind that touches your face. For a young mind, it’s everything.
It was in hong kong when i experienced my second (and so far my last) double decker bus ride on our family holiday but wonders of wonder it never occurred to me why i never tried riding those double-decker buses while i’m in vegas or while i’m traveling anywhere where there are several doudle decker bus trips.
And yet as a grown up (well, not that i did really grow up as my mom always ask me “to grow up” after all these years ) i will always take a second look everytime i see a double decker bus passed by.
That’s why i even hurriedly ask a stranger to take my photo when i saw a parked red double-decker bus while i was strolling in downtown toronto . Finally the Love Bus is red this time.
The thrill of riding a double decker bus was gone but the memories of the first time (as always) will linger.
Although i’ll never know when i’ll be riding a double decker bus again, one thing is for sure, i will ride the Love Bus anytime and it doesn’t matter if it’s red or blue! 🙂
Copyright © 2014 Joys of Joel by Joel F. All Rights Reserved.
