HOW TO #1

Last Sunday I had coffee alone. I was thinking about writing the folio I wanted to come up with for the UPV Sentro ng Wika Publication. So up I went with a novel, a book of poems and my pen and paper. Well, since my favorite coffee joint is also known for some mysterious happenings, there are always stares and then some on that spot. As the evening wore on, I was bent on finishing the 5 poem folio, but there were distractions along the way, and instead of writing the five Hiligaynon poems, I let my mind (and eyes) wander, and three other English poem got in the way because of three exciting things (and men). Let me tell you what happened through poems. This is the first of 3. Enjoy!

How to Propose Marriage to a Complete (ly Gorgeous)
Stranger In a Coffee Shop
By Luis Batchoy


Step 1: Order Coffee;
The strong, bold and bitter one,
To steel your nerves.
Notice that he
Does not have a ring
Or a tell-tale mark
So pat yourself on the back
And go for broke!


Step 2: Fantasize how you really have to marry him
Because there is no one quite like him.
You must have that sparkle in his eyes
To drive the darkness in your room.
You must have that promise in his
arms to thaw the cold nights.
Above all, you must have that
Wits about him
To keep you sane.

Step 3: Think of him saying yes
To stopping traffic
In the middle of Bonifacio Drive,
In front of the Iloilo Hall of Justice
So you could tie the knot
Or knot in ties
Amidst the angry honking
Of irate and annoyed motorists.
No, scrap that idea,
Be grander.
Do it in EDSA.

Step 4: Think of the beautiful future
You and him would share.
Pray that like you,
He is all city and metropolitan;
But born with a grain of sand
Lodged in his heart and soul,
That longs for a commune
With other grains of sand,
To be licked and washed over
By the salty waves, every so often.

Step 5: Pray harder and wish harder
That he adores the laughter
Of crazy cavorting children
The way you do.
How they tire you, yet lift you
And bringing you mad sanity
And how you'd tell them stories,
Some of which you wrote yourself,
And naturally, of course, the wonderful
Wild ways of making them.

Step 6: Freeze at the disappointing truth
That you are in the Philippines
And that in this jurisdiction,
Granting of course, He'd say yes;
Because he is crazily smitten
By you and your penchant
For wild imaginings
And caffeinated poetics,
And that he is madly
In love with you,
Is not enough reason
For two men
To get married

Step 7: Order more coffee
And sweeten them
With his smiles.
Be comforted by the fact
That he is struggling
With the same
Albeit, saner
Thoughts of you.
Sweeten his drink
With your smiles.

Photo Credits:

http://www.ehow.com/how_2249950_propose.html
http://hubpages.com/hub/46_Ideas_on_How_to_Propose