...POETS' corner

The Joke's On Me


I keep waiting for the phone to ring
Yet I know it won't be you;
I try to fill my life with busyness
Yet all I do is think of you.

What became of us
And all our dreams and plans;
How could you turn and walk away
As I watched our castles turn to sand?

Do you never even miss me
Don't you long to caress my face;
How could you forget so easily
And You I can't erase?

I want to be in your arms again
To see the laughter in your eyes;
But I guess the joke's on me
And Oh! Was I surprised!

CODE OF ETHICS FOR GOVERNMENT SERVICE

Any individual in the service of the Republic of the Philippines should :

1. Respect and uphold the constitution and laws of the Republic of the Philippines.

2. Observe the highest standard of morality, integrity, honesty, loyalty and devotion to the public.

3. Perform the task thoroughly, faithfully and efficiently.

4. Be physically and mentally fit for public service and should ideally live within his income.

5. Expose corrupt practices in the public service without fear or favor.

6. Serve the public courteously, justly, and impartially regardless of kinship, friendship, social standing, religious and political differences.

7. Discharge duties promptly without thoughts of gifts, benefits or remuneration which may influence the proper performance of official functions.

8. Engage no business with the government or with any private party, either directly or indirectly which will be inconsistent with his/her position as a public servant.

9. Divulge no confidential information coming to him/her by the nature of his/her office or duties.

10. Uphold, respect and observe these principles, ever conscious that public office is a public trust which he/she should neither violate, nor should he/she allow suspicion to arise that such has been abused or betrayed.

ME AND MY GIRLS...

NAHHH, GIRLS... THEY ARE SO COMPLEX, INDEED...

...POETS' corner

The Ginkgo Light


A downy woodpecker drills into a utility pole.
While you cut stems, arrange tulips in a vase,
I catch a down bow on the A string, beginning
of Song of the Wind. We savor black beans
with cilantro and rice, pinot noir; as light slants
through the kitchen window, spring is candlelight
at our fingertips. Ice crunches in river
breakup: someone shovels snow in a driveway,
collapses, and, hospitalized, catches staph
infection; out of airplane wreckage, a woman
identifies the ring on the charred corpse
of her spouse; a travel writer whose wife is in
hospice gazes at a lunar eclipse, the orange moon
at one-millionth of its normal brightness.
A 1300-year-old lotus seed germinates; a ginkgo
issues fan-shaped leaves; each hour teems.