"Mozart: Lacrimosa"

"Mozart: Lacrimosa"
by:
Alessandria Venice R. De leon


I remember when it was all simple
We would play a game and laugh at death
As though it were nothing but a timeout
The present is a different reality
The thought of life ever after
Is soured by awful truths
And a question of reluctance to death
Is not so easily answered
We smile through tears
And pretend we’re fine, as we always do
We pretend we’re happy
While we think of lands we’ll never travel
Or dreams we’ll never fulfill
Now death seems inevitable
Like a looming figure in the dark
Or like a gray cloud that never leaves


I’ll miss you sorely, dear friend
If a virus made by human nature takes you away
From this place, from my arms
If the sickness becomes unbearable
And it causes you misery or pain
I do not want you to suffer
Bid me goodbye with a smile
For we’ve lived our lives as much as we could
Bid me goodbye without sadness
For there’s always life after the next
Try the hardest you can
As you pass me by
Like a ship sunken in the night.



AUTHOR’S NOTE: Hi. It’s me again. This poem holds more of a somber tone and there’s a reason behind that. I’ve recently gotten news that one of my closest friend’s house helpers tested positive for COVID-19 which puts her and her whole family at risk. I love her dearly, and I am terrified of losing her despite her attempts at reassuring me that she is fine. This was supposed to be a poem about hope, but my own thoughts led me to a darker path. Choosing Mozart’s Lacrimosa as the title and piece for this poem only made sense given that Lacrimosa is Latin for “weeping”. Not so fun fact: Lacrimosa is known to be the last piece Mozart wrote before he passed away but he was unable to finish it in time. If ever you decide to give it a listen, keep in mind that anything after the first minute was written by his students. Thank you for reading.

"Rachmaninoff: Vocalise"

"Rachmaninoff: Vocalise"

by:

Alessandria Venice R. De leon

I
You are the melody I live my life by
It is you who fills in the blanks
And the one who completes my phrases
You’re the music that penetrates the lonely silence of life
You give this plain world its colors


II
You are the peaceful resolve after a long day
And yet you are the tension
You give me no ease
It’s a feeling worse than stage fright
It’s a crashing fall, a dangerous tide
A low rumbling deep inside
It’s something akin to a grand crescendo
And yet I still crave for more


III
My heart soars when I hear that ever beautiful sound
Untainted and clear as day
Unrestrained and as free as a galloping horse
It resonates and sings from within
Your violin or your voice
It does not matter, it is you I want to hear


IV
I would gladly live my life on this stage
If only to stay with you for eternity
Making music as we do
For there is no sweeter sound
Than the sound of us two
Every duet echoes deeply in my soul
And stays forever.


V
While my fingers grace these ivory keys
And yours dance across that ebony board
We look to each other
For a split second I know you understand
You hear all that I desire to say
The hidden meaning in between the notes,
The frightened question I hope you’d answer,
And most of all,
You hear the love I could never say in words.



AUTHOR’S NOTE: Hello, dear reader! I know it’s been a while, but you can blame my fickle muse for that. As you can see above, the title is a piece of classical music by Sergei Rachmaninoff. I highly recommend you give it a listen. I’ve found myself quite interested in classical music, its history, and music theory as of late. In fact, I’m even studying violin by myself :)

The whole idea of writing a poem to read while listening to a piece was greatly inspired by Antonio Vivaldi. You may know him for composing The Four Seasons.

In Amsterdam in 1725, Vivaldi’s pieces were accompanied by poems describing exactly what feature of a season he wanted to capture in a musical way. I’ve taken a cue from the Italian composer by creating story poems based solely on the emotion a piece gives me when I listen to it. This means that the stories I assign to certain pieces may not be the original story the composer intended to tell. They are my own.


If you like this type of content from me, then don’t worry! I fully intend on making this a series :)

"Delusional Us."

"Delusional Us."

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

We are winning. We beat the predictions. We are winning.

And yet with all the deaths and all the cases how does it not feel like a win? Because it is not. It is but a false sense of security that the numbers cannot truly show.  I believe we have won when we can safely vaccinate our most vulnerable , when the cases have dwindled to zero with no cases emerging and strict measures are just something that we do out of the ordinary.

When we can safely see our kids go to school without fearing that they are carrying the virus with them back home unknowingly or creating a worse strain as they continue to interact with each other.

When we stop lying to ourselves that this will get better just by doing nothing. That we are not connected to what the other person is doing. This will not end well for those who do not heed the advise. Nor for those around them.

No sir we are not winning. We are drowning and the solution being offered is to keep drowning.

"Survive"

"Survive"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

I

Another day

Another month

And I am still here saying that

II

For all the things I wanted

None of them have passed

Still keep on wishing

And a little for time to stop

III

But I still feel like I am sinking

To a bottomless Blue Unknown

Drowning while breathing

The realities that I have known

Optum , UP-Ayala Technohub , Quezon City. 7/1/2020 4:57am

"The Night I decided to be back"

"The Night I decided to be back"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

It has been awhile since I have written...well posted something in this blogpost. I have been writing a lot of things but something that I felt that is not worth posting at all. Or when I finally decide to post something I just decide not to. There are things that I wanted to put here even before the lock downs started but I felt like I was in that survival mode or at least in my mind it was just better to think of other things rather than to write.

I initially thought that without work and a lot of time to kill there would be tons of opportunities to write at home or at the duties I had left but there was simply something missing , a drive to do so. When I was at home I spent time with my family , talking , joking around , living the life that we have and being able to take care of them was enough. So for awhile I did not write at all.

And then there was the news of the virus that I did not want to look at but had no choice but to be updated. It was simply everywhere and once I had the chance to update myself daily there would be moments that I would isolate and not look at anything online. And there was my chance to post something. Gone.

So what was different tonight? I felt like the past few months have been a big burden on my soul and I have done a lot of work toward lifting it by writing once again. It simply feels wonderful to see the words jump from my mind and into this blank page.

And so I am back and I don't to go away for another extended period like this. Whatever may come.

"The Great EDH Resurrection Project"

"The Great EDH Resurrection Project"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

It has been the 2nd month without a single Magic game for me this year. It can be quite hard with all the toys but no one to play with and so instead of focusing on that little fact I am simply going back to what always works. I have decided to restore all of my broken decks and store them until the day finally comes that I come play with them again.

Since I have bought my Keter tool box not recommissioned as carriers for my decks. I have been able to fit in 32 working decks. And the realization hit me hard that I had more decks than this. At my height there was more than 50 decks that I have built from scratch. And now those decks lay in incomplete states from my research and need to build EDH decks that can actually compete. After a lot of fine tuning pieces have been scattered. Some have complete shells but missing lands.

And this February I have embarked on the great EDH Resurrection project.My first restored deck is my Locust God deck that keeps on drawing and produces tons of insects.

I am now on my second deck...The Zacama Dinosaur deck that was gutted for other decks. I am determined to let it be the 33rd deck to go into the 3rd Keter Case. 

I will make it so.

"Rot"

"Rot"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

I

The Night stays lonely as clouds are lifting

In the city the dead are stirring

Staring at the gadgets as their eyes opened

Closed as it were they start walking

II

And they see but cannot see

Nothing but the enormous tragedy

And they write and moan

without knowing what it is to groan

III

And with their ears closed

Just go about their day

The matter in between of them

Just floating in decay.

Optum Bldg. N , Quezon City. February 04 , 2020 4:01 am