Still night but already morn
This time finds me alone
With my pen and thoughts to hone
So I go the avenue of deep thinking
Hoping that life’s lines will do the writing
As I accompany the traveler
I pray we go the distance yonder
There seems to be no end
When questions and anxieties bend
Yet it never misses the chance
To make everyone the better at once
People come in various forms and shapes
Yet when truly divested of capes
The meeting of persons is in its candor
And both praises the God of splendor
There just can’t be so much
Of what the wandering spirit holds as much
One only has to breathe life
And again succumb to strife
This time today is a new day
The morning comes, let it stay
Greet the mystery of heyday
Whether awaiting morn or nay
Catch the Elusive
On this table, I implore
May I be blessed to capture
The realizations that only a few bore
On this table, may it rancor
On this paper, I pray
Let the sublime sway
Winds from the depths of time
On this paper comes its prime
Allow dear friends the ray of hope
I call forth the heavens to move
To the ever optimistic, the glow
Pour forth wisdom only God bestows
Like the beating of the drums
Hearken the call before the glum
Allow the unfathomable drive
Catch the elusive before failures arrive
I bid adieu to the temporary
I welcome what’s beyond the ordinary
May our readers be the warriors
And to God give the honor.
Three fourth year college students came to ask their grades because they are under probation. As their English teacher, I asked why they never informed me that they were under probation. After some explanation I told them to come as a group, write all the names of those who are truly under probation. So they came back with the list: List of students underprobe. Underprobe? I told each senior student to write the words “under probation”. A certain Joy wrote “Under Probetion; Richel wrote “Under provision” and Sharie wrote “Under probesion”.
I gave them another chance: Joy wrote “Under Provetion”; Richel wrote:”under Provition while Sharie wreote “Under probession. With disillusionment written on my face, I gave them a third chance so Joy wrote “Under Probition”, Richel wrote “Under Probhetion “ and Sharie wrote “Under probission”.
Not that Spelling is the end all and be all of one’s education but definitely for the fourth year students who are already preparing for the in and off campus teaching, their inability not to spell correctly the words “under probation” is a cause of alarm. Their so-called attempts to spell it again and still misspell it even more is a cause of greater alarm.
With fatigue I closed my eyes. . . and prayed that challenges in real life are the real criteria that will measure the education we have accorded them. These students may not know how to spell many words but with the many years spent in school, they already know thousands of words so what is “under probation” compared to these countless other terms (I hope).
I need not be disillusioned nor become cynical because of fatigue. Life is greater than misspelling some words.
