Poems in LRT Removed

I finally had the opportunity to go out again last night after a year of just being at the confines of the home. Martin was invited to jam in an open drums session in Tomato Bomb, and so we went.

I was so "czyked" to ride the LRT again because I missed the poems posted on top of the LRT windows--"mga berso sa metro". Can't help but love them! In the midst of the city's restless hustle and bustle, I am put into a solemn pause when I read these verses. It makes a humdrum of a journey meditative, meaningful. But, to my surprise and utter disappointment, when I stepped inside the LRT and looked above, I saw Anne Curtis inviting me to drink GIN. My poems are all gone! It was replaced by wallet-ripping, soul-snatching ads!

I always thought that whoever conceived the idea of putting poems in the LRT was genius! I don't know but there's something about trains that makes me ponder about life. There was even a time when I spent a day just riding the MRT, with nowhere to go, no itinerary whatsoever, just sat there with my tickler, observing, writing, making verses out of the people's various facial expressions, listening to gossips and colloquial conversations, musing about urban life--searching for the poetry in the prose of everyday.

I have this rather odd idea that I have a connection with the genius who thought of placing the poems in the LRT. Not romantic alright. I think we have the same hunger. Hunger for the soul. Hunger to see the being breathing underneath the mundane, to see it raw, stripped of the city's artificiality. And we both want everyone to be like us, hungry as hell. That's why he placed the poems there, I suppose, in an attempt to spread the hunger.

But what now, the genius became a sellout? Well, I shouldn't jump to any conclusions. Most probably it was not his idea to replace the poems.

Really sad about what happened. A hope for change just turned into dust.

Again.