if mistakes are the best teachers,
what are their teachings?

who will enjoy the fruits of these teachings?
myself, my children, my grandchildren?

why does it seem to me that
i am doing more than my share of learning?

why are others patient with me?
is it because they’re busy learning too?

if mistakes are the best teachers,
then, how come i don’t know everything?

---

for a heathen, all sunsets are alike:
    sunsets beckon him
         to start his feast and orgy!

i’m a realist-romantic.
for me, no two sunsets are alike:
    sunsets are the kaleidoscope of my past
        and the mirror of my future!

from my past, i remember
     surfing with the tide,
     listening to my first conch,
    collecting my first set of seashells,
    finding my first piece of driftwood,
    cutting my feet on the volcanic rock;
        but most of all, i remember
            my first walk, hand in hand,
            with my first teenage love,
            looking down and kicking sand,
            knowing what i wanted to profess
            (since i had rehearsed it all day),
            but tongue-tied.

for my future, i see
    wisdom that only comes with age,
    calmness reserved only for ascetics,
    freedom from the ravages of hatred,
    optimism that is unfettered by experiences,
    spiritual improvement that follows from faith;
        but most of all, i see
            peace,
            a peace that comes from knowing
            that i am not a bad custodian
            of my little corner of this
            fragile patch of the universe,
            not always right,
            but right enough times
            to make my raison d’etre a +.

---

the importance
of
    a grain of sand
                            is
            dependent
on
    whether
        it is
            at the beach
            or
            in your eye.