The toddler years were spent with youth and
ignorance,
But still understood
the incidents filled with traumatic near-death experience.
Moments of what can only be
called excruciating pain,
Of when they stole everything
you and your spouse have worked so hard for, gone all in vain.
But at least his life remained
whole,
After all, in the end, that’s
what matters the most.
Then came the new city, the
capital, the challenges,
Family issues, foreign land
denials, more robbery, imagine day in life of an unfit school adolescence.
Bad luck every day, every year
for nearly half a decade, the darkest night right before the brightest sun rays,
Although this light would have
to wait for another decade.
But the permission to land in
the most perfect place on Earth did come around,
Finally, the family would be
together even if just not yet completely safe and sound.
Stranger in a new country,
teenage petulance, different lifestyle,
But wasn’t I the one who prayed
in my knees every night for this to be mine?
Typical teen, fought with
parents about the trivial, wanting to make cool friends, exciting novelty,
But lived below the poverty
line while the rest of the school kids enjoyed concerts of some famous
celebrity.
But “have faith, be resilient,”
someone from within and above promised, and while dad said to seize every
chance,
For even this uncertainty is
temporary, and this soon shall pass.
So many moves, academic
unpredictability, changed three schools in three years,
Even got in massive trouble due
to the newfound pleasures.
But I like to think I did the
best I could, still luckier than most, at least we never had to bow down,
Then, came the letter that
turned my whole life into what it is now.
Thought to myself how I was now
seeing the light at the end of the tunnel,
Was certain it was the
beginning of the freedom, attending parties, finding the one, and that would be
all.
But spoke too soon as came the
challenging lessons, thought I was the dumbest one in the group, plus both
depressing and exciting love affairs,
But with the help of now a
stranger, I did pass the school courses.
Made close friends, traveled
from the deepest oceans to the highest Falls, but also broke many hearts than I
care to count,
Perhaps this is why, in a
couple of years, Karma did catch me as if on a hunt.
But that was not until for a
while,
During which time, the boy did
become mine, and I could have sworn I was the happiest I had ever been in my
life.
Then as promised, misery
arrived and all things dissolved into dark, everything I thought was mine,
Long-distance, employment
denials, betrayal from sibling and friends, lonely nights, jealousy, and spilled
wine.
Crying on the bathroom floor,
no one to vent to, my soul crumbled and melted,
Prayed, “please, give me back
the good times, I apologize, and I promise to never take them for granted.”
As the months passed by, I was
forced to make peace with the time,
After all, I did actually do
the crime.
Fast forward to the current day
when I got the degree, the job, the boy,
Although happy, need to keep
reminding myself to be grateful, and that this blessing is not a toy.
Time and again, life happens,
and I become a tourist in my own homeland,
But again, keep reminding myself all is okay, think of the journey all the way back from where I
started.
Grateful for everything that
has happened, all good and even things that could have been better,
For this is a story of your
very own stargazer.