I promised to my mom

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When I was still a little kid
My mom used to tell me
“My child, do not get too close to an adult man”
I asked her ‘why’?
And she replied
“Because there is a monster hiding inside them.”

When I grew up as a teenager
Once again, my mom reminded me
“My dear girl, do not get too close to the boys nor the adult man”
Again I protested her “but why?”
And she replied to me with a glare
“Because they can turn to a monster anytime!”

As I became an adolescent girl
my mom said
“Please, do not rush to choose a man for your life, okay”
“But mom…” and she interrupted
“Because you may have ended up choosing a monster instead, dear”

Today, I am a grown-up woman
Still, my mom said
“Please ensure that you live well with the man you have chosen”
I said “mom, okay. I heard it”, and she insisted again
“Yes, you should my dear. And please make sure that he will never turn into a monster to hurt you and your children, I beg you.”

“Okay, mom. Okay. It’s noted. I will do.”
I promised my mom.

Vitalia Ze

Dear Ally

Dear Ally

I remember the first time we met

we were trying to befriend each other

and we got along well

despite our differences

I am blue, while you are red

but I thought we would blend well later

One day I started to feel

that something was not right between us

as you started throw shades to me often

for every trivial silliness I had

and for being a clumsy

and that I am not a perfectionist

Like you

You are a perfectionist Ally

and I am an ordinary just-want-to-be-myself me

why suddenly you changed

for I could not change myself

to pretend someone I was not?

Dear perfectionist Ally

On the day you behaved rude to me

I was so hurt and could not understand why

why could you be so mean to me?

What had I done wrong?

I did not understand

Even until the day we parted ways

Dear Ally

Today I heard you have found your way

to something you called as a perfection

I am indeed still far away from it

I am still hurt from the hurt you left in me

But today

I want to let it go

All this resentment to you

in my heart and my mind

I forgive you

for everything you have done

for everything I have felt for you

for everything we have felt together

let us find our happiness

and be peaceful with our mind

I want to congratulate you

for every perfection you have achieved

may you always be happy and peaceful

from your old pal

The Ordinary

#letter #prompt #forgiveness #resentment

May Day— A Phone Call with My Dad

Today is May Day

I said to my father via phone call

“What is May Day?” he asked

It’s a day off for workers dad

It’s a day off for you as a worker,

I replied. He laughed.

“What? Really? Oh dear, you must be kidding me

when could a worker have a day off in his life?

Perhaps when he is getting sick or about to die.

Workers meant to work everyday to earn income

and to sustain his life

Just look at me my dear

Since I was a teenager I had learnt to be a worker for a lifetime

learning one skill to another skill and grow with it

from being a farmer in your grandparent’s rice-field

then a young military boy for gun-keeping task during 1970s of our country’s resistance

learning to become an electrician, a builder, a repairman, a servant

then learning to become a tailor.

Today I am a tailor while at the same owning a small clothing business

with the profits only enough to afford your education

and a bag of rice for everyday meal.

But you know what I love tailoring the most my dear

I love how my hands cooperates with the sewing machine

and turns the textile to a school uniforms

isn’t that a magic, my dear?

As I sell that magic for $10 to $20 US Dollars each

people keep coming ordering the magic I create

they said they loved it so much when they wear it

and now I have so many orders stuffed on the table at my tailoring shop dear

how could I take the day off my dear?

I am not a fancy office employee like you my dear,”

I sighed, dad is laughing.

But dad, please, do take a day off

you deserve it you know, I insisted

“Alright darling, but after I finished the orders”,

my dad replied and the phone call ended.

Today is May Day

is it really a day off?

Dili, May 1, 2020.

In Birmingham

One fine day

I would like you

To be here with me

In this city of Birmingham

You will be my tour guide

showing me around

And makes me listen

To all your bittersweet stories

On how your first time was

When coming here

As an immigrant

From our little country

Sometimes unknown

To this country

VZ

On Love

Love

Is a heart who just lost its half

Staring at the twilight

With nostalgic songs

playing in the background

Eyes holding the tears

Hidden in a pretty smile

Longing terribly inside

Love

Is a ringing phone

From a worried wife

To her taxi driver husband

Working all night

With almost no chance

To grab something

To eat or to drink

Love

Is a lonely soul

Despite not alone

Feeling lost in the crowd

Waiting and guessing

When would that soulmate came?

-Metiaut, Dili. 13 July 2019

If You Wish to Do Shopping

If you wish to do shopping
My dear,
learn to choose
Things you need the most
Over things you want the most
Though one or two
are still fine to buy

But make sure
my dear
That their cost
are less than your cash
And that they can fit
In your shopping bag

After shopping,
My dear
Learn to bring
those groceries
you have bought
by yourself
whether they are light
or heavy

And don’t use plastic
My dear
But the shopping bag
So you can keep it
and use it
over and over again

Isn’t it ecological
to use shopping bag
my dear?
Rather than using plastic bag
because your life
my dear
is actually
already full of plastic.

Think about it.

I Met Gibran in Baucau and Fell in Love with Poetry

Khalil Gibran, the famous Lebanon poet was waiting for me in a kiosk across the roundabout street of Villa-Nova city in Baucau. I saw him through his cover, a tightly wrapped book in plastic yet it is dusty because the cars and motorbike were passed by throwing its dusty greeting.

With some notes of Dollars I left for the kiosk owner, I brought Gibran home with me, barely knowing him. Together, we rode the microlete and look at each other with hidden smile trying to avoid the questioned look of other people in the microlete. I guess Gibran might be another storyteller I would spend my long night with in silence.

It’s 8 pm at home. I finished my dinner. The dishes are done. I knew I was ready to join Mr. Gibran in my bedroom.

“Good evening Mr. Gibran” I said while opening the plastic wrap off him. It felt like uncovering the veil of the bride for the first time. How awkward yet exciting to get to know him page by page before the first page. His title. Secrets of the Heart .

“So you are a poet Mr. Gibran,” I said and keep reading him through the page. Reading every line of the verses. I completely lost in every words of him.

“Mr. Gibran, how could words transformed in such They are hypnotically romantic and ironic at the same time. a magical way that it could touch the mind and soul? Even God becomes closer to you in words.”

“Poetry is not an opinion expressed. It is a song that rises from a bleeding wound or a smiling mouth,” Gibran said in smile.

That night we end up sailing in the ocean of poetry.

Baucau, 2008

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