East of the Sun | West of the Moon

Once the last breath of air is inhaled and I slip underwater, the world expands as my lungs contract. I lose all sense of time, transported to a different dimension. My skin dissolves and I am one with the ocean. Immersed in my element - water.  I dive down to the bottom as quickly as I can - no time or gesture wasted. Loose, fluid, relaxed - yet intent and focused to get to the good part and my main objective.  Pearl Diver  |  © StefanLins/Flickr Walking on the sea bed. Feeling the crunch of the grit and sand. Colors dimmed. First the reds go. Then the oranges. The yellows after. I float in a world of greens and blues in the light, indigo and purple in shadow.  Skimming past undulating seaweed. Zipping by coral and rock.  Pulling, Propelling. Projecting.  Purposeful. Primed. Primordial.  Lost in my overblown sense. Blanked out. No agenda.  Aimless and free, I dive as I please, in sensual pleasure. Poised on the brink of a precipice. Wha...

On hiatus when Trump got elected, now that he's been ousted I am happy to return. This time back I'm here to regale you with my fiction. Hopefully we shall all be regaled.  on the  Hoboken  NJ pier On February 2010, soon after I had just moved to Hoboken, New Jersey - the one square mile former island, now reclaimed and made famous by its most notorious resident, Frank Sinatra - I took a flash fiction writing class at the community college where I first met my writing teacher, John McCaffery .  Over a decade later, our main group of Hoboken writers still meet up and write together regularly. We have since evolved into a tight knit group of friends with shared histories. A few have published books as well - kudos to them!  I have none just yet though here is where you can now find the pieces I am working on.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I do too. 

As this chaotic year draws to a close, Halloween is by far the most apt occasion to celebrate before voting in the US elections on November 8. We all need to bring back more fun and humor in our lives after the rocky horror show of this presidential campaign season. So much rides on our choice and our vote.  If it's not screaming, it's not a  TRUMPkin ! Read the full story at Change Warrior . 

Having gone through the trauma of past failed elections and their ridiculously fatal results for my homeland the Philippines, the US 2016 elections mean all the more to me as this is now the land I call home. Lest we lose sight of the importance of w hy this election matters, here are some truly valuable and valid points - borrowed from my sister,  Angelica  Berrie : For Filipino Americans like me, this election offers a historic opportunity to make a difference. Putting the first woman in the highest position in our country is a game changer, just as voting for President Obama was a game changer.   Hillary Clinton brings a consistent track record of public service, fighting for issues that touch our lives; healthcare, children, families, women, and immigration policy. A respected bipartisan Senate leader  and globally recognized world leader as Secretary of State, I trust her to make the difficult decisions that will impact our country. I want to se...

light bearer, gate keeper, master story teller, spoken word artist We Were Made For These Times   My friends, do not lose heart. We were made for these times. I have heard from so many recently who are deeply and properly bewildered. They are concerned about the state of affairs in our world now. Ours is a time of almost daily astonishment and often righteous rage over the latest degradations of what matters most to civilized, visionary people.

This September 16 and 17 we are being treated to another lunar eclipse - the third in a string of cosmic eclipses.  The sun, moon, and Earth all become evenly aligned - the moon then passes behind our planet, where it enters the Earth’s shadow and the light from the sun is blocked from reaching it.  It falls in the watery and intuitive sign of Pisces, making this full moon a perfect time to focus on creativity and spirituality. 

The August Aquarius harvest full moon and eclipse heralds the manifestation of our intention. Moon over Manhattan This Corn Moon is all about laying the groundwork for things to come. In the same way that corn must be planted and cultivated in order to grow, you must set your intentions and see them through before you can reap the benefits of your work.