Evolution of Faith

 Evolution of Faith

                Dr Abe V Rotor

                   Neo-Gothic church, Parañaque

Move over Baroque, once bastion of the ancient
world, evolved from the underground and grassy hut,
into mighty fort for war and worship - a kingdom,
until Gothic took its place - ah, freedom!

Soaring into Heaven, scaled not by walls or stairs
but by spires rising like swords piercing the blue sky -
until smog hid its view, and took away its purity,
no longer a rod to fear, pointing at eternity.

High rise buried Baroque and Gothic, with billboards
around; Gregorian chant turned to rock and pop,
in time passing, not by the clock but by the car,
and space a catacomb of concrete and steel bar.

Make way for the Messiah, make haste, we are told;
but who would he or she be? Of what race and tongue?
manger we no longer find, find the star by the Google chart;
does faith make any difference in science and art?

The world did not really change, but we - we did.
Creation, we're but a part - never the Creator, forbid. ~

Romanticism is alive in a Heliconia

Romanticism is alive in a Heliconia

Dr Abe V Rotor

False Bird of Paradise (Heliconia sp) growing wild in an idle lot. 

Don Jose subd., Fairview QC

False Bird of Paradise - what a queer name, 

yet you grow where you rise to fame;

being imprisoned and alone ignites a fire

to bloom and rise across a barb wire. ~  

Magnificent Balloons

Magnificent Balloons

We see happy kids in the past, no other 

than us, in sweet passing review.

Dr Abe V Rotor

Balloon peddler on Quezon Ave., MM

"Fly me to the moon (with these beautiful balloons)

and let me be among the stars,"

 a song that raised us up in dreams and adventure

around the world and Mars.

We wonder where balloons take our children now
with make-believe heroes,
creation of the computer, fast foods and malls,
leaving tradition in throes. 

But Jules Verne's Around the World story lives on,
and the Gossamer, too;
we see happy kids in the past, no other than us, 
in sweet passing review.~

Strange Images of Trees

Strange Images of Trees 

Dr Abe V Rotor 

Living with Nature - School on Blog 

Lagro QC

Whoever felled this old balete tree,

drove the deities away; 

and the spirit of the tree shall not rest,

no prayer can repay.

Mt Makiling, Laguna 

You bear the hardest wood -
ebony in deep shiny black;
your foes no less my kind
feeling and love we lack.

Tierra Pura, Tandang Sora, QC

Sunrise, sunset, the ground is alive,

lilting children under your care 

that make up for your loneliness 

in a world with so little to share. 

Masinloc, Zambales

You were once doomed by the wind,

but benevolence saved you;

by your fruits and resting limbs,

sanctuary and playground, too.  

Mt Makiling, UPLB Laguna 

Black and white makes you bold and real

of your strangler's reputation,

climbing on your host tree to the sky,

a piece of mystery of creation.

    

Burgos, La Union 

Tree house I see built on your limbs

has stolen your view on the scene, 

the breeze in your leaves hushed away,  

a living monument unseen. 

Cebu City

Embroidered leaves by the bagworm,

turning to crimson and fall;

mutual indeed is host and tenant,

nature and creatures all. 

Kaohsiung, Taiwan 

Re-encarnation - this elephant tree had been

once roaming around in band;

threatened, endangered and gone, 

what would it become the next time around? 

UST Manila 

Shadow of death I see across the lawn,

save the sun all mourning;

haunting the playground empty and quiet,

save a dead tree walking. 

Ateneo de Manila University QC

To the conscious passerby,

in the morning holy, 

in the evening scary, 

a veil to laugh or to cry.  

St Paul University QC

Young devil tree, but you aren't;

your eyes but holes to your heart;

your arm raised to praise, to call

a friend, such is nature's art.

Tagbilaran, Bohol

Saplings race to meet the sun,

lanky to posts they shall become;

sans branches but bole and round

soon fall to the ax one by one.   

Agoo, La Union 

Over laden, if all these fruits,

a burst of a lifetime -

young to die like a mother 

cut in her prime.  

UST Manila 

Living cradle to while away the time,
to catch up with many a lost sleep;
watch out, a nap gone over the clime,
 where time and opportunity slip. 

AdMU QC

Pendants you wear in the night, 
blinking with the chilly air,
bring tidings beyond your shade,
to far places poor and fair. 

When in bloom golden, only for a day or two;

confetti follows where the bees have gone, 

in every flower is born a new life, the embryo,

seed to a tree in another place and time.   ~

*Lesson Former Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid with Ms Melly C Tenorio, 
738 DZRB AM Band, 8 to 9 evening class, Monday to Friday

The Little Girl under a Tree

The Little Girl under a Tree 

Dr Abe V Rotor

Sketch by the author, ca  2008

A little of Heidi, the orphan girl of Spyri;

a little of The Railway Children of Nesbit; 

a little of A Little Princess of  Burnett;    

a little of Bernadette, the girl of Lourdes;

a little of a Nazi victim, Anne Frank; 

a little of Buko Haram's hostaged girls;

a little of the Isis innocent victims;  

a little of Malala Yousafzai, the courageous; 

a little concern of the sea of humanity  

 for the little girl under a tree. ~ 

Test the power of your third eye and eighth sense of naturalism.

Test the power of your third eye 

and eighth sense of naturalism. 

Can you identify these enigmatic creatures?  

Dr Abe V Rotor

I cling to the leaves on the nether side,

gnawing on its edible part, a parchment I create

to make a shingle out of it which I carry on my back, 

then transfer nearby for the next meal,

and another shingle, until I look like a pagoda 

sans base, moving from place to place, growing,

then I stop and rest; I remain in stupor.

then metamorphose, leaving my domain - 

I am male and I have wings to find a mate;

the female is wingless, she waits for a mate

at her door, lucky for me - for a brief romance,

then she withdraws into her temple

now a maternal nest, and our life cycle is complete.  

What am I?  

   

Obnoxious I look and smell no one dares to get near,

much less to pick me neither by beak nor tongue,   

for my enemies are few, so my friends - if I know;

you see, if you are ugly and dirty no one bothers you,

like anyone else not excluding some humans;

but in my case Nature designed me this way, 

and she thinks I'm beautiful, to me it is a gift of life;

surviving a cruel world.  I rest now and someday

I'll metamorphose into something beautiful 

in the eyes of humans, so beautiful and dainty

no one will ever ask what I was before.

What am I? 

Answers: Cryptothelea heckmeyeri Heyl (pagoda bagworm), will metamorphose into a moth; Papilio alphenor caterpillar on citrus leaves, will metamorphose into a butterfly.  Both belong to Order Lepidoptera.

A Place by the Sea

This is the place I used to know,

Part of my childhood, part of me.

Dr Abe V Rotor 

Sunken Pier, South China Sea, Sto Domingo Ilocos Sur

That was a long, long time ago
In a place by the western sea,
Hidden by feathery bamboo,
Thickets of wild kakawate
And the old resilient maguey.

I used to ride a wooden cart
Creaking on the dry stream bed,
Until I reached where two roads part
One leading to a homestead
From where came our daily bread.

This is the place I used to know,
Part of my childhood, part of me,
Where seasons come and seasons go;
Early dream of a destiny -
A beautiful life by the sea.

Faces I knew, old friends now gone,
Stare the young at someone new;
Big trees that used to shade the sun,
Houses I remember are few,
All makes an unfamiliar view.

Old Rip van Winkle I’m today,
Longer did I sleep than he;
And too long I had failed to pay
Respect to this land by the sea,
And the treaty of time and me. ~