I Am Buraot

I was driving on this road to nowhere. I was passing through more than just the places and faces of people I met, oftentimes I get lucky enough to know them, to be with them, be them.

I was born from the country. Small town, big family, rough life. You know the story, short in riches but big in dreams. It was typical.

As for me, I just dreamt of a road trip. I wished for the chance to steer my own life, using my own means, to wherever I intended it to go. I wanted my own life to lead.

Even at an early age, I sensed adventure… a life-long adventure. Continue Reading…

Since there are lots of places I have lived my entire life, I naturally have a lot of friends. Friends that over the years have remained my buddies, my brother, my sister.

I am so lucky to have found them, and I thank them all.

I am not trying to be optimistic here about friendship. In fact, I am a bit depressed writing this article. I am in this mood because earlier I was thinking of my friends who I wanted to talk to and realized…. that four of my best friends are now dead. Continue Reading…

This year comes as a new dawn, the beginning not just of a new year, but of a new life. But as always, not without the remnants of the baggage past.

This time last year I was in and out of the hospital. Teams of doctors were trying to figure out what is that thing that shall not be named, only to find out that they couldn’t.

Several specialists took their chances, only to realize that even if they want to fail, they wouldn’t have a chance.

My bills have since mounted, rather incredulously. My body had since recuperated, rather unhurriedly. My immune system at its lowest in my thirty-seven years of existence that at times I certainly feel like I was five. You see I was a sickly kid. Being a menopause baby had its kicks. Continue Reading…

Five little squirrels sitting on a tree, the first one said, what do I see?

I gazed past my little angel giggling and mumbling her little rhyme. Behind her was the face that launched me to sail my sunken ship, straight up the northern shores where the majestic auroras are kept.

Its inner glow radiates outwardly and shone on me that I wasn’t able to see the fine details of its source. I thought it was making me temporarily blind.

What do I see…..? Continue Reading…

I don’t want to be in an airport terminal. Except when I’m the one who’s flying, I never really liked the airport scene. The atmosphere is usually… well… frantic.

You could tell the Filipino travelers apart from the rest of the pack of thousands. They always have their balikbayan boxes for a luggage.

Inside their “luggage” you can find not just goodies but hopes and dreams that will eventually be shared to love ones anxiously waiting on the other side of the world. Continue Reading…

Summer’s almost over. The days are still hot but the nights are getting cooler. Outside, I can see that it was beginning to rain. It was just enough to wash away the haze that’s hovering over my head.

Even without the aid of beer, my belly begins to flab. My legs, now embedded with gout, are stiff for the lack of exercise. I couldn’t walk a mile without feeling the pain. Even the simple task of going down a flight of stairs takes me a while to complete.

I can only walk, not run. I can only jump, not leap. What was once a simple disparity is now a big difference. Despite this, this year, I will undergo yet another leap. Thankfully, one that wouldn’t require the use of my legs.

For this is a leap of faith… Continue Reading…