A letter to the first man I ever loved

Dearest Tatay,

Thank you for holding my hand when I was learning to walk and for never letting go until I was able to stand on my own two feet. You have guided my every step and nudged me toward the paths which you think is best for me. But you always let me choose which ones to take. Thank you for giving me the freedom to be whoever I wanted to be. Thank you for always cheering me on. I know I am your weirdest, most unique child and I am very happy that you embrace who I am… Oddities and all.

Thank you for always smiling at me. Your teeth may be crooked but that beaming smile always make me feel cherished, and adored. Thank you for always making me feel like the most beautiful youngest daughter in the world (without bias and even though everyone knows I look like you). Thank you for working hard to provide for our family. You are my idol and my inspiration. You have not only provided us material things but also the most important stuff – life lessons.The stories you always tell us about your life, struggles, and success will always serve as a reminder and a lesson for me. These had taught me how to value everything I have and to work hard for everything I want in life.

In your profession, you have inspired and helped a lot of people which I admire the most. I have witnessed some of these little miracle you do with other people. Your heart may be run by a machine but it could never deny the size of love your heart contains. I just want to let you know I am very proud and thankful I am for having you as role model.

Most of all, thank you for being you. You are not the perfect father because you are human. You made your own path, made mistakes, and you learned valuable lessons from them. No matter how imperfect you are, you are still the best father for me and I will always love you. No matter how old I get, I will always be your little bunso. I love you so much, my Tatay.

Your bunso

Last lullaby

by: Lovella Chris L. Palma

Empty heart filled with fear

Hollowed womb filled with tears

Small cries fading in light

Cradling hope, holding tight

 

A Mirrored reflection

Pale, cold, stoned perfection

Cherubs sculpted in ice

Singing soft lullabies

 

Breathe of life so sweetly

Dried petals blown freely

Tracks of time so fleeting

Travel safe my darling

Sweet Winged Death

         

By: Lovella Chris L. Palma

 

Black morning and glowing night

Wings of darkness passing light

Fluttering with Reaper’s sigh

Whispering a dreadful cry

Behind her beaut hides a lie

Flecks of gold dust in her eye

 

Under the gloom covered cloak

Warm as ice, and clear as smoke

A star speckled river woke

“Come and drift with me”, he spoke

“To a place where tired souls soak”              

 

Death’s angel waiting at bay

Charon’s palm demanding pay

Dark butterfly, lead the way

Twilight is now turning grey

Cold lips and smell of decay

Whiff of sorrow gone astray

 

Wings of death, breathe of dread

Black butterflies, eyes of red

Ghostly look obscure tears shed

Withered fearful thoughts to bed

Chained to a thin piece of thread

Cut by fate’s blade of the dead

Helen of Troy, a warrior – A Literary Deconstruct

Paris, a Trojan Prince, was promised by Aphrodite the most beautiful woman in the world – Helen, the daughter of Zeus and the beautiful queen of Sparta, Leda. The moment he laid eyes on her, he had immediately fallen under her spell. Helen in return was also not immune to the dashing Trojan majesty. There was no denying that their love was true, but theirs was a forbidden one; for Helen was the wife of the scoundrel King Menelaus. At start, Menelaus abducted, raped and wed Helen against her will. One night, whilst the young lovers where in their throes of passion, Menelaus caught their treachery and challenged Paris to a duel—where the young prince fell to his death.

Helen, struck with grief of his lover’s demise, wanted to seek revenge. She escaped to Troy and went to King Priam. Priam, anguished and angered upon learning the death of his youngest son, declared to wage war against King Menelaus. He planned to raise fleet of ships to darken the sea of Sparta. Helen, driven by vengeance, asked to lead this army. Priam agreed to her plea only that she will fight alongside his eldest son, Hector. Helen religiously trains for battle with Hector as his tutor.

Clad in a gleaming armor with a sword at hand, Helen stood in the bow of warship, with thousands more trailing behind to destroy Sparta and kill her lover’s murderer, Menelaus. She is now known to be the “face that led a thousand ships”.

The Twist

In the epic Iliad, Helen was depicted to possess a weak character with no real development. She herself seemed almost oblivious to the horrors that surrounded her. She displayed very little emotion and no remorse. There is a version wherein Helen was abducted by Paris and she had no say on the matter because she is just fragile and fickle minded woman. Women were regarded as inferior creatures by the alpha male characters in history. Although she started off as a spineless character in this epic tragedy, Helen was coined to be the “face that could launch a thousand ships”. Neither that her beauty was the cause of the war nor that Menelaus loved her so much that he would go to such lengths just to get her back; but it was his pride that made Menelaus gather a thousand ships and sail for Troy. Menelaus used Helen as a mere instrument to initiate the feud against Troy—of which was bitterly known as the “Trojan War”.

                In my perception of this tragic story of love, death and betrayal, I planned to give depth to Helen’s character. Helen may be dainty but I wanted her to have a strong heart and mind. Instead of using her beauty to cause the Trojan War, I want her to lead a thousand ships to seek revenge against Paris’ murderer and also for herself for having been forced to marry against her will.

Paris’ character died in my version of the story because his character is the weakest in my opinion. He was overcome by lust, shallow, and dumb-witted to follow the false promises of Aphrodite. He was not thinking when he took Helen and brought her to Troy.

  Though Helen’s character is vengeful in my plot, she now displays traits such as leadership, cunningness and strength. She is now empowered to become the ultimate heroine.