My old town

A recent trip home has reminded me of the past
My old school with its unmanicured lawns and peeling paints
Brought back nostalgic memories
I do not know how to react


A diner we used to hang-out
… the signage has already one screw left
The side walk we trudged up and down during school days
… pavements are now missing
… puddles of rain has collected in the holes were the cement would have been


The plaza with its green grasses and newly painted bench
… with its stadium where we use to cheer our lungs out for our fave team
… with its outlined walks and glittering lights in the late afternoon
– the grasses are now brown; desperately thirsting for rain
– the stadium benches badly needs repair
– the walks dusty and only one yellow bulb hanging in every corner


The old movie house with its creaking chairs and musty-old-moss smell
They once echo the giggling and the sniffling of us…
Now it’s no more – it’s has been turned into a cell phone shop


The sweeping meadows, with stubborn wild grasses swaying in time with the wind
Hectares upon hectares of twisting sugarcane stalks ready to be harvested as far as the eyes can see
-- it’s now subdivided, lonely and dry


Rushing rivers that once has heard the screams and squeals of carefree children
Frantic voices of parents warning us to be careful
…it’s now carabao’s bath… dark and murky.


The wild guavas, tamarind and “kamunsil” plants we plundered
The string beans and peanuts still young enough to be picked
The heavenly sweetened “58” sugarcanes we coveted
-nothing is left, just grasses and hardened soil


The ponds we used to fish with cut off tree limbs and crushed snails for bait
– the ponds have dried and the snails are scattered and few


I could not forget the feel of pure mud on my toes
As we chase dragonflies in the rice fields
Nor the grainy sand on my feet as we picked “tino-tino”




The rest of the world has been modernized now
The cities are shinier
The cars are slicker and faster
The malls are bigger and crowdier
The parks are wider, merrier, more entertaining
The internet has made the world smaller (though still damn big) – more accessible
Movies are available in 3D’s (gasp*) unthinkable


My town has grown old though – wrinkled – aged
Almost everyone in it wants to get out of it
Those who are out want to stay out and have no desire of coming back in…
It’s almost a sin just to think these thoughts,
I mean not coming back?
But it seems to be that way now…


*photo grabbed from Google images*