If I Never Meet My Soulmate (Allen Miguel Bamba)

This was inspired by Laurence Alma - Tadema 's If No One Ever Marries Me which I discovered when I watched Natalie Merchant 's beautiful rendition of the poem into a song. Enjoy! :)

-
-


If I never meet my soulmate-
And I don't know why I should,
For there is no such thing as fate,
And that idea is just so crude-

If I never meet my soulmate
I wouldn't care very much;
I shall get a songbird in a cage,
And make sure it has a strong latch,

I shall have a hut near the sea
And a dog all my own,
And a little garden with bees
Decorated with shiny black stones,

And when I'm really getting old, -
At fourty eight or nine -
I shall help others meet theirs
Since I haven't met mine.

The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister

This is the first novel of Erica Bauermeister that I have ever read. First times normally means no expectations for me and boy was I surprised with the way she cooked a full course meal of people's lives beautifully interwoven with the feel, smell, sight and of course, the taste, of food.

This delightful novel is the story of the magical or shall I say mouth watering cooking lessons taught by Lillian who fell in love with food when she was young but initially used it as a means to rebel. Her students are varied like the ingredients she uses; Carl and Helen are a married couple that exudes marital bliss but really went through struggles of their own; Chloe, busses tables and lives in with her boyfriend who she used to work with before; Antonia, olive skinned and has that sexy accent works designs kitchens and adapts to her new life in America; Tom, overturned with sorrow and grief for what he lost; Ian, the software engineer who discovered a whole new world of life in his taste buds;and Isabelle, the gray haired lady dealing with memory lost and those she still has.

The School of Essential Ingredients paints an exquisite picture of how food can change lives for the better. That sometimes cooking is not merely a task but an adventure to a world unknown, to our inner self, to memories lost, found, and created.

4 STARS 

Saffron

-

-

Your whispers are

pieces of Saffron from

a faraway land

- exotic and expensive.

It delights me

when they come

unexpected in the 

quiet blur of the bleak night;

Warming me up like no other

sound can;

It keeps me safe from a world

yearning for spices because I know

I can always get it from you.

-

-

*Picture from tastewiththeeyes.com

Blinded

-

-

I opened my eyes

so fast that I got

momentarily blinded by the sun;

It pierced right through me,

stunning me for an instant;

a pinch of eternity already lost

in time and with no chance of retrieval;

I wondered if I better go slow next time

and really take my time,

step by step,

 and not rush things

With life, love and 

with you.

-

-

*Picture from picturesofthesun.net

Revenge of the Middle - Aged Woman by Elizabeth Buchan

(I'm finally doing my first ever book review!  :})

Lately, I had been reading lots of novels about 'middle age' coming of age and somehow it makes me appreciate better that love has no expiration or due date. In this book, Rose Llyod, is the epitome of a career woman who has managed to juggle her work and her family triumphantly (or so it seems). She is working as a literary editor (one of my dream jobs) while her husband Nathan deals with the cruel and manipulative (newspaper) side of the company. She tinkers in the their garden on weekends while her son and daughter are off to the university and relishes in the completeness of her life. But like all novels, her world completely crumbles, her marriage and work were a mess plus her beloved 16 year old cat Parsley died. 

This is a story of a woman who was hurt but finally moved on and showed everyone that being left for a younger woman can definitely be a door of opportunity for a better and sexier (thanks to the Parisian lingerie) you.

3 STARS

*Book cover from http://openlibrary.org

Apologies

When I first started blogging about my musings about love, relationships, heartaches and growing apart I felt so sure that I wouldn't run out of ideas. But lately nothing really struck me, it's as if my muse was on leave and left me scavenging for inspiration. I do not know if momentarily not writing about my quite sad forte is a good sign. I guess I was just so caught up with my new career that I failed to create new poems. Looking back to all my creations, I got a picture of the kind of person my works evoke: sad, lonely, pathetic. And I asked myself, was I really all that? No. Maybe I'm wrong. But I'd like to believe that my posts are only an outlet of a strong desire, of a powerful yearning of someone who looks forward to rosier days, someone who craves for all the things that I mostly write about.

To all my 11 followers and to those who visit my blog (from the Philippines and from other countries) thank you for taking a moment and reading a portion of my feelings. Thank you for understanding (I hope) that at times I have to do something to get things that I want and not just write about them. 

This is not a goodbye but rather an explanation for the short impasse that happened.

Please watch out for my upcoming posts.

*I hope I can start reviewing books this year! (cross fingers)

-MIGGY

Prayer

I cannot stand 

seeing you this way

In pain and hurting

I'll do everything

to take it away

but I don't know how

So right now

I ask God to please

give me your pain 

Let me suffer in your behalf

Let me cry your tears

*Image from journalofsacredwork