Upon the invitation of Noel and Angge Soriano, I attended the retreat at Eliazo Hall, Ateneo de Manila University during the Holy Week of April 1995. While some of the participants stayed in, I did not.

Instead, I passed by UP Diliman, visited the Chapel of the Risen Lord and meditated near the Main Library. An excellent place to reflect, UP campus then was almost deserted except for some Ikot jeepneys.

In effect, it was two retreats in one. On the last day of the retreat, a Saturday April 15, 1995, while meditating and preparing for the evening mass at Eliazo Hall, I wrote a poem. My first.



To God, My Father

In silence
I turned to my inner self
There was nothing but emptiness;
I looked deeper still
And saw nothing but darkness.

But as I continued gazing
At the void
I saw myself mirrored
In stillness.
Before me was a child
In a frightening wilderness.

And lo, a ball of fire
Appeared in blinding brightness
That seared me with the
Truth of consciousness.

It was then that I
Communed with you, my Divine Highness,
My Highest Self
Reverberating in peacefulness.
At last, in this silence
My quest for everlasting life begins.

Labels: Angge Soriano, Ateneo De Manila, Chapel of the Risen Lord, Eliazo Hall, Holy Week, Ikot, Noel Soriano, UP Diliman

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