Where are we when we forget the road?
When does a compass become dead weight?
When we see no direction in which to go, how do we move our feet?

Where are the cobblestones we used to dance on?
Where was the wind that filled the sails?
When we were given flight who gave us wings?
When the skies grow dark and no star's in sight what do we finally seek?

In the way the sun flies across the sky,
Can we not coast through the unpaved paths?
The wand'rer's stone on yonder dell,
The perfect mirror of the pond,
How do we get There?

I knew once, dear one,
The answer to the questions:
Was to simply go forward
With all heart and strength.
Yet no one ever mentioned
The weight of regret.
-------------------

Whiteness

A dove is Death in disguise.

It keeps secrets; from us it hides.

Languidly they seem at peace,

Peaceful as the stormy seas.

Watching through their eyes,

Stolen from vultures’ lies.

They see our blackened souls,

In their white plumage holes.

The Fire rages and breathes

With these birds, Hell seethes.

-----

Bulwark

Unfurl the wings of yore and beat the wind,

Raise the spears toward the threatening grin

Of Death, defying to the last breath of flame.

Whispering out of leaden lips to shame

The gods and their demons above the plains.

We must rise, to challenge in horse-wains

And iron boots, raise our banners high.

Like mountain kings we sing and sigh;

Our battle-rage shall lance through,

The legions and their paltry deities too.

-----

A Prayer

Let it be the rain that pours

And not my soul

Let it be the leaves that are shed

And not my tears

Let it be the snow that falls

And not my heart

Let it be the waves that clash

And not my words

Let it be the earth that breaks

And not my resolve

Let it be the ice that melts

And not my strength

This I ask through silent sigh. AMEN.

-----

Focus by: Eric Lazo

As high as the clouds,

The sleepers soar while dreaming.

Why do they not wake?

Do they forget the time? Yes.

It is slowly why they die.

Name: Eric Lazo
Date: 12/3/2008
Colorgenics Number: 01735624

At this time you are really feeling quite exhausted by all the conflict and quarrelling that is going on about you and you are looking for some sort of protection from this state of affairs. Ideally you are seeking a peaceful condition and a tranquil environment in which you can be afforded the chance to relax and recover.

Which ever way you turn you feel that you are being utterly thwarted. There is considerable conflict in the air but you will stick to your beliefs and not be deterred in endeavouring to attain your objectives.

Being a very proud individual, you tend to hold yourself aloof pretending that you are stoical - indifferent to pain and pleasure. This is not so, for in truth you are an extremely emotional individual, one that may make a hasty decision and perhaps regret it at leisure. It is time now to break the bond of detachment and be the 'you' that you would like to be - give vent to your emotions and enjoy yourself.

You are experiencing more than your fair share of stress following an acute disappointment. This may be the result of subconscious conflict between hope and necessity. The tension that you are experiencing following your unfulfilled hopes have given rise to anxious uncertainty. You have no doubt that things could get better in the future and so you refuse to make the necessary essential decisions. This conflict between hope and necessity is creating considerable pressure. Instead of resolving this by facing up to making the essential decisions, you are likely to vacillate and concern yourself with trivialities of little consequence.

You are moody and depressed at this time but it will pass. All of your hopes and dreams seem to have gone astray and you are fearful of planning further for the future. Disappointment at the non fulfilment of your hopes and the fear that to formulate fresh goals will only lead to further setbacks have resulted in considerable anxiety and you try to escape from this by withdrawing into yourself. But that is not the answer. You have the power to succeed, believe in yourself... all is possible to him who believes.

(sagot sa tula ni Dr. Policarpio Peregrino)

Hindi nila gaanong iniisip ang kapakanan ng iba

Kahit alam nilang ang kaakibat ng Lupa ay ang kapwa

Mistulang ang alam lamang nila ay ang dumada.

Wala silang pakialam kung mabuhay man ang iba o matabunan ng burak ng Panahon.

Palibhasa, lumaki na ang ulo nila, nakilala na ang tapang, at sa tingin nila, kinakailangan pa ang kanilang sentimentalidad.

Bilang tinuringang pasaslamat, inisip nila

Ang tinig ng mamamayan

Na ipaglaban at ipagtanggol ang bansa

Sinunod nila ang kanilang budhi

Ng kanilang rebolusyong matagal nang inaagnas

Ng mga bato sa lupang mang-mang at pipi

Tinupad na nila ang kanilang tungkulin

Bilang mga takot sa pagbabago at pagbangon sa pagkakaratay

At masunurin sa batas ng tinatamad.

Sumusumpa silang paunlarin

Ang bayan bilang isang isla; hiwalay sa daigdig

At nang buong katapatan

Paano ito kung hindi naman sila nagsisikap

Na maging kabilang sa kalakhang daigdig; pook ng bagong pakikibaka

Sa puso man lamang, kitang-kita ang kakulangan:

Ang sa isip at sa gawa.

We are but the dreams of the "Is"
The amalgamation of a million thoughts
Into that singular infinitesimal spark
The dream lingers as the corpeus passes
Into the void of forgetfulness it is pursed
Never to return. Yet we,
We who are dreams of the "Is"
Are infinitesimal
For the "Is" is the "Is"
Also that the "Is" teaches
With words:
"I am who am"
For "he IS who IS"
And we are nothing more.
Than dream.

Sung, Written & Produced by: Yamazaki Masayoshi

Transliterated by akane_echizen

from www.animelyrics.com

Improved//More sensible translation

If I lose any more than I already have, will my heart finally be forgiven?
How much pain before I can see you again?
One more time, please don't change the season.
One more time, back to when we fooled around.

When our paths cross each other, I am always the first to turn
Making me indulge more in my own selfish way,
One more chance tripped by memories;
One more chance that we cannot choose our next destination.

I am always searching somewhere for you.
Behind the house, the other side of the alley's windows,
Even though I know you won't be there
If my wish is to be granted, please bring me back to you right now.
Betting and embracing everything, 
To show you there's nothing else I can do.

Anybody should be fine if it was just to ease loneliness,
Because the stars in the night sky seem like they're falling; I cant lie to myself.
One more time, please dont' change the season.
One more time, back to when we fooled around.

I am always searching somewhere for you
Even at the intersection and my dreams
Even though I know you won't be there
If a miracle was to happen, I want to show it to you right now:
A new morning, myself, 
and the "I love you" which I couldn't say.

Summer's memory is slowly fading...
The sudden disappearance of heart beat!

I am always searching somewhere for you
At dawn's town, At Sakuragi street,
Even though I know you won't come here.
If my wish is to be granted, please bring me back to you right now
Betting and embracing everything, 
To show you there's nothing else I can do.

I am always searching somewhere for a hidden fragment
At the corner shop, the corner with the newspaper stand,
Even though I know you won't be there.
If a miracle was to happen, I want to show you right now:
A new morning, myself, 
And the "I love you" which I couldn't say.

I always end up looking somewhere for your smile
At the railway crossing of the fast-paced town,
Even though I know you won't be here.
If life can be repeated, I'll return to you a million times over.
There's nothing else that I want.
Nothing else is more important than you...
  *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*  Dedicated to the most important people...  nuff said.

Intro:  This is the first few paragraphs of a new short story I'm writing. It goes deeper and darker than I've ever gotten plot-wise so this is a new angle for me to take... I'd like to continue it through to the arc that I've already set up in advance so it might become a series of short stories about the same character.

Warning: Language usage and some concepts not for minors.

---------------------------------------------------

Story:

He opened the freezer. Decrepit and old, it gave off the smell of leaking coolant and mildew. It stank. And above that it even sounded old. It creaked and shuddered with every switching of its thermostat. There were even times that the contents were in a kind of limbo; trapped in a flux between the Antarctic and Hell.

Some empty wine bottles were knocked over. Cold and lifeless their broken tips were cork-less and he clearly saw that had they not had that recyclable symbol embossed on them, they’d have decayed by now. Instead, the bottles persisted.

He dug around in the cold and found a half-empty can of beer. The “Heineken” of the can was covered in rust. No good. His stupid wife forgot to buy another case of the fucking beer.

The can almost crumpled from his touch. Stupid can. He hadn’t been back here in a while. He had imagined that his wife would actually have cleaned up after their last fight. She was such a stupid woman, how cliché of her to actually fail his expectations.

He looked around the empty kitchen, forgetting to close the fridge. The knife rack had been emptied. How paranoid could the woman get?

He chuckled at his own joke. He was here to kiss and make up. Well… Kiss and fuck was more like. He was playing honest today. He dropped his rucksack on the vinyl tile floor. Like everything else, it was getting old now. The tiles were scratched and peeling due to the constant scraping of the chairs. Even that was once in a better state; the chairs still had their rubber caps attached to the ends of their legs. Now they were jagged edges of steel continually eating at the floors.

Rats crawled across the ceiling boards and they occasionally stopped to stare at him. He would have shot them had his wife not broken the 9mm he kept at home. He adjusted his posture, craning his neck to try and find something to eat, his worn combat boots scraped at the floor and tossed mud on the floor. Great. Another mess to clean… He would have hollered for his wife but he was here to kiss and make up, so he let it go for now. He looked for the mop and found that his boots made more muddy footprints. Awww SHIT! He took them off and tossed them into a corner.

He walked over to a corner closet and found the mop, broken handle and all. Fuck. All he needed was to have things break down on him. He kicked the mop over, cursing his luck that things should break when he needed them. He vaguely remembered hitting something with the mop ‘til it broke clean in half; maybe a few splintery shards flew away so that it couldn’t be put back together. Maybe he hit a dog sometime ago. He wasn’t good at remembering.