He is coming home.
Heavy 0n his back...
A luggage full of remorse.
The plane has landed
On the soil where he grew up
He woke up weary
Greeted by Yesterday
His mom welcomes him
not as a son but as a stranger
A visitor from a land far away.
A traveller from the future.
She looks younger and healthy
But her smile will always be the same
She showed him his room
His small corners from the past
His Dad didn't say hello
Always cold and remote
Then, there were children
But only one made his heart leap.
A boy, cheerful and confident
Raw and wide-eyed.
The boy smiled at him.
He was his Mom's youngest child.
He spent the day with the folks
In the village street outside
Alone, he saw Them
The devil and his demons.
They were talking to the boy.
To stop them is his purpose
But he was paralyzed from feet up
There is no way to escape fate.
He saw how they dragged the boy
In some darkness somewhere
He still cannot move. Helpless.
Tears displayed what he felt inside
The boy came back crying
His family oblivious
He wont say a word.
This is between him and the boy now.
It was their secret.
But the boy thought it was personal
The next day, everything has changed.
Innocence lost and stolen.
The boy becomes shy and afraid
He is no longer cheerful
His family unsuspecting
It could just be a stage
He saw the boy alone
Playing with his dolls.
He approached him
They have a talk.
"I know what is going on.
And i love you no matter what"
The very first words he wanted
to tell the boy for a very long time.
"What happened has happened
we cannot change it anymore
It is a part of life, you'll understand
All you need is to walk on.
You will never be happy
unless you release it
Don't start to carry the burden
It was not your fault.
Continue to dream and forget about it
Then everything will be better".
The boy hugged him with tears on his eyes
He patted his back as he pat his.
It was different the next day
He woke up smiling and happy
His mom greets him good morning
Not as as stranger this time but as her son
The same assuring smile on her face. Always.
This is the day he'll return to America
The place he calls home for 6 years now.
His dad beaming at him
No longer cold, No longer remote.
Pride written on his face.
Then, there were children
His nephews and nieces.
They reminded him of the boy from Yesterday
Cheerful, confident, and raw
like the boy the first time they met.
He kissed everybody goodbye
His Mom, Dad, and the children
To the poor boy he never saw again.
To remorse, guilt, and self-pity
To the Devil and his demons.
As the plane lands at SFO
He felt light and buoyant.
The luggage of remorse,
No longer on his back.
He definitely feels better.
At the passenger seat of a cab,
He thought of the man.
The man who changed his life.
The man he met 30 years ago,
Himself.
Si Mona.... kakainis. Nagyayang mag-beach. Me date raw sila ng bago nyang Jowang Pakistani. Asus! Try nya naman raw tong lahing to for a change. Malandi ang lokah.
