A Birthday Poem for Ligaya

A Birthday Poem for Ligaya

With joy you work,
With joy you talk,
Your joy puts others at ease,
Time with you they wouldn't miss.

I see your joy, when from Germany you come,
laying down your presents for me, one by one,
clothes, cosmetics, chocolates and cheese.
your choices always right, how come?

I sense your joy, when in turn, you see
my gifts of pink pearls custom-made for me,
'though they're used, your eyes shine brightly,
with Philippine-made bags, you receive them with glee.

You are joy
as Joy you are named
with kin and friend
your joy is shared.

You are in this lifetime as my sister born,
through ups and downs we've come,
verbal fights and silent wars long gone,
freely fond feelings fanned.

Your joys are my joys,
My joys are your joys,
May they flow endlessly
as we grow spiritually.

Happy birthday with all best wishes!


(For my sister, Ligaya (Joy), on her birthday-13 June/10: 40 P.M. 12 June 2007/Pasig City, Philippines) 

Joscephine Gomez

Poem

The Weight of Love

I once was asked concerning love versus hate
Why does it seem that hate is so great?
While hate is a very strong emotion too
Nothing can equal love that is true

The weight of hate is very heavy to bear
While it seems like love is lighter than air
Accounts of hate make a big news headline
While actions of love you must look hard to find

But when you consider that love is patient, kind,
Envieth not, not pompous, not puffed up, not rude,
Seeketh not her own, slow to anger, thinks no evil,
Rejoices not in wrong doing, but rejoices in the truth,
Bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things,
Endures all things, and never fails*

You soon learn that the density of love is so much,
Although the scales be heaped with a great volume of hate
It's catapulted by a mere measure of love's touch,
Love strengthens the bearer so one feels not its weight