Without You
To the girls and boys of Acoje Batch79

I’d like to make up for long lost days,
like a teen again
I regretted not having enjoyed the times
when the opportunities were
ripe to pick

I would like to make up what I missed doing then -
chasing rainbows behind the mountains,
teasing girls and laugh with boys.

I would like to recreate the moments
that I failed to see, so many of them,
like sands along the beach,
washed to the sea,
pushed back to the shore,
carried by the wind.

The sands are the memories and the sea,
the hour glass.

I am not after the past days that
were long forgotten.
I am after the times
that shouldn’t be forgotten.

I would love to chase the dreams
that mingled with realities
and put them back together.

No matter how far and hard it may be
I could endure.
Nothing could comprehend
the pain of longing and the joy of loving
because without you,
I am like the sand
washed to the sea,
carried by the wind.

A very short love story

-Miguel Nebrida

If I were then past my innocence I would have said yes to a girl who said,

‘I like you.’

I would have held her hands and took her to the forest.

Who wouldn’t refused such a proposal from a lovely girl? All the qualities that I admired most, then - she possessed.

She said I was the most handsome boy she had ever seen,
huggable,
lovable and ideal one for her.

I don’t care if she’s one of my sister’s best friends.

What I knew then was that - love was something worth saying
rather than worth feeling.

And if she would say it again,‘I love you,’

I would definitely say ‘Yes”.

While I wait...

Endless

-Miguel Nebrida

i'm grown up now
say in my 50's
with more grey hairs,
in my moustaches as well.

i'm grown up too
in my 60's, i
still look pretty
that i used to be.

i'm getting old
with freckles in my face
and wrinkles in my neck
do you remember?

i still recall when
you told me one rainy day
'when the rain stops come and visit me.'
and you nodded,
'i will come to visit you.'

i still remember when
you told me one cold night
when men came firing
and took the loot,
'i will come back to you.'

i still recall when we
were held by men
who pretended they were friends,
you said 'i will come when they're asleep.'

but you were like
the rest of them -
that dismantled me in my sleep, or
the one that promised -
promises you never kept?

Bastards!

-Miguel Nebrida, 2009

Look at them, their hair are all the same, Afro done like Jackson
I bet they're twins but too many. Five, six, seven of them?
They're there, here, and they leave traces everywhere
In fences, in the walls, in the chairs, in the cars,
There names are scribbled, even in your dreams.

Damn who are these guys, never seen quite like them
And they talked of "shits" and "bullshits"
Isn't that the same?

In the school they concregate, admired by girls
And they flirt with men too. Remarkable.
But they are straight guys, they drink, they squabble
And they fight with each other.

Can I join them. No my friend.
Why not. Not now my friend. Soon
When your time has come, but let them
The hippies of the mountains.

Stay

-Miguel Nebrida, 2009

As long as you want

in this place where generations

Come and go.

I've seen your fathers and forefathers

in storms they fought and

Overcome obstacles.

If you could only stay, a little longer

it wouldn't cost you more.

Just to see how I was going, you see

I'm drained

I'm exhausted

I'm withered, if you could only

Envelope me

I want you to stay...a little longer.

To the children

-Miguel Nebrida, 2009

Tiny feet of the sons and daughters
Hiked through the woods and rocky roads
Their smiles and giggles
Mingled with the buzz of bees
A symphony with the songs of birds.

Down the mountains and through the ranges
Rays of the waking suns collide
Shadows of mahoganies and
Dews in the foliage
Cries of creatures hanging from the trees.

Down through the plain and valleys
Lay the rocks and pebbles
Like toys for little hands and minds
Where beneath the golden ground
Were treasures of the Mines.

Tender feet of sons and daughters
Kissed the hands of foreign lands
Where giggles and laughters reigned, we
Sailed in the oceans, scattered in the sands
We were treasures of the Mines.