Arnel Francis

How Much Water Do We Need People live and culture flourish because of water. History conveyed how ancient Egypt civilization grew along the banks of the river Nile. Trades and business flourished because of the presence of the most essential water. Men lived longer, conquered death, sickness and even war because of that simple hydrogen-oxygen molecular relationship. We are truly lucky to have nature made it around “renewable”. But what is it with water that makes it the most important resources of all? We live in a water planet, right?(71% of the Earth’s surface is water). Well if that’s the case then why worry? Oops,… but then we are also water beings (60% in most of our cells in the body is water) and that, in order for us to survive, we need to continually replenish them and so with our environment. If we have to deal with grim realities and statistical congruences, we may say that in the next two decades (with the course of global warming’s dictate over water cycle and growing wor

One last Sniff in for GOOD-BYE Bows were courtesy done repeatedly Not to end but to pause for awhile Waiting for the next likeable tune to play When we may dance … and put on an act again We sometimes dizzied ourselves from a twirl Then pause to come back empty Faces paled by the sickening motion Breathing stopped … but still unmindful of its caution Many times you glided on a Mazurka Lively hopping from one partner to another Oh how I could see the glow in you But when you reached me…you only said “I’m tired, let’s sit” When our favorite tune was played I was hoping you’d grab me to the center But you seemed to forget that it was our music The thing we used to enjoy most Many times you fancied on looking how good you are in the mirror I told you never mind for you always DO But you seemed to have not LISTENED For my words never mean anything to you When the ball was nowhere to go but to end At 12 midnight I decided When everything in me was exasperated Not my body but my Heart One las

The Perfect Proposal By: Arnel Francis V. Morales The rain has relentlessly continued for days like it has a mind of its own, not knowing of when it’s going to stop. Every time Dave has an important day in his life, the weather always seemed to be uncooperative. The haphazardly parked 1968 Ford sedan on the narrow driveway revealed that he was rushing home late last night. A salesman for 3 years now, he has never even marked the tail of his dream to become rich by the age of 30- a target he missed two years ago. “A time for everyone” was always his self-comforting pathetic liner every time lapses of bad luck came his way. Dave was determined that he would win his way in the end. Rushing out as he grabbed his bulky car keys in one hand and leaving his half-finished cup of black roast on the sink, he is faced with the usual dilemma of having a long drive in this tormenting weather – the undeniable condition of his car. The wiper that barely touch the windshield, the half-focusing headl

On Forgetting I have befriended loneliness as it crept my midnight pillows I welcomed it as a celebrating wash for my troubled soul to calm I sang with it lullabies to hush its deafening wail that it may fade And cease to bother me as I lay I tucked myself with the warmth of your illusive blanket and tossed to find comfort Many times for every recurring thought of the terrible fate I made I arranged the beating of my heart into a symphony that it may dance my soul Into a deep trance I succumb... Till the pain’s no more... but numbing For time has mirrored my defeat like a beam so blinding It flashes back and forth ...unforgiving I learned to be unresentful That I shared to sadness a piece of my heart to devour till it burps Wishful that it won’t cross my mind any more Of the memories we had before I tamed the throbbing pain with a whiplash of blame To make me strong for the sideshow to endure I made the longing rest and talked myself that the best things doesn’t end But just t

When I Dance... As I stretch a bundle of muscle in my body, I rejoice on how wondrous work of ART I could make. Every twists, every turns and bends could come in precision...A breathing, that is sometimes short, lifts me up as I heave upon an opium of JOY to sustain... a momentary delusion that I can be what I want to be. There is this sudden stupor that I forget the ‘outside world and the ‘worries’ it brings and focus only in the NOW, the physical pain . There is an unequal joy of convincing myself that I have gotten close to what is being asked ..Enduring, panting, sweating, arms,legs and bodies battling to cross in delirium yet creating not chaos but harmony. What’s next.??..I panic..”Better not think”, I sometimes tell myself. Let the moment decide. So I just glide in the euphoric beat of the music, which sometimes only my heart could hear... The muscle now repays the trust. Yes. “The demands of DANCE is no far greater than the demands of LIFE”, On Dance Dance class for me is a day

Foreign language learning is experiential. It ferries learners on a big bus ride where they may ‘see’ more along the way rather than what they benefit upon reaching their destination. Teachers should see it as pragmatic, valuing the content of their course- seeking and reflecting on why they need to learn the language and what they need to learn in the language. My experience for five years on different classroom settings and different cognitive levels of learners gave me the nudge to go FUNCTIONAL. I always tell my students the old adage of linguists, ‘the language you use is the language you know’..For what better way can we really assess the competence of our learners if they cannot use it outside the four corners of their ‘warm’ yet predictable classroom. I put a challenge more on developing students’ lingual ability. As I entered Graduate School (as a student in Language Teaching), my practice and beliefs were strengthened. I was no adherent of the Grammatical approach, not that

As somebody new in handling Environmental Science for an International School, the fear of being tagged as inept on the subject pushed me to rummage for the ‘latest’ reference in our friendly librarian’s counter. In the pile of books where she led me, was a softbound one, atypically large for a College textbook, still tied in straw and obviously in the process of ordering approval. It was thick with gray pages in newsprint and with words “for sale in the Philippines only” adorning the cover with intention. Like a child eager to gobble its first Nursery book, I swooned over the pages quick when in minutes I realized that the dampness I felt in my palms was incomparable to the appalling revelation I have yet to LEARN. It was right at that instance that I have realized that we as accidental creatures of this Earth has treated it with so much indifference that we are starting to sense our karmic retributions. Earth is dying and it is dying fast. To reckon would be an easy thing to say. But