The Irony of Life

March 11 marks my nth birthday. I don't celebrate my birthday splendidly. I simply make my Thanksgiving Mass special. On this day, I celebrated my thanksgiving at the San Agustin Church - one of the oldest churches in Intramuros that was built around in the 17th century.

March 11, 2009. On this day, the ashes of Master Rapper, Francis "Kiko" Magalona aka FrancisM, is laid to rest at the Loyola Memorial Park in Marikina. After happily battling against the killer leukemia, the master rapper went home to his Master.

Though I'm not a fan of FrancisM, I was saddened by his death. He was too young to die. Everybody could agree. One thing I admired about him was his nationalism expressed through his music (rap, rock, hip hop) and his own clothing line. His passion was true and genuine. His music speaks of values; not the no-nonsense type of rap. In fact, "Mga Kababayan Ko" and "Keleidoscope World" are the only rap music that I enjoy listening to.

Francis and I do not know each other personally but we have a thing in common. FrancisM was Bosconian. He was an alumnus of Don Bosco Technical College - one of the schools run by the Salesians of Don Bosco. I am not a Bosconian but I grew up spiritually with the Salesian spirituality. The St. John Bosco Church in Makati is like my second parish. I also used to work at the Don Bosco Provincial House. Francis and I are Salesian at heart. Another thing is that Pia Aroyo-Magalona, FrancisM's wife, was my sister's student in grade school of St. Paul College Pasig.

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Here's a poem I doodle in my mind on my birthday.


The Irony of Life

Life is an irony
Its mystery misunderstood
A lesson discovered
Thought of meaningless
Wisdom of innocence

The tattooed man
Can not give blood
In time of need
To save a life
Now, the tattooed man
Needs the red fluid
Many gives blood
To save his life.

They quip
At forty, growing wiser
You live but older
But,
At forty, when you die
You die young.

Can we choose the age we die?
Amiel, a young boy died
He was hit by a car
He died young
To teach us a lesson
While there is time

In his 40s, Francis died
Happily battled against cancer
He died young
To inspire us
Giving us a chance
To change
While there is time.

They quip
Bad guys don't die young
I quip better
Some people die old
Because someone
Has to guide the young.

To Amiel and Francis, have a safe journey home!