10min2

the tempest roars its rage outside, a blinding force of rain and wind whipping through the trees, tires and homes, everyone afraid of its fury. can't just stay home but everyone battles through and meekly finds footholds in the terror, one feeble step at a time, moving forward as if the day was ordinary when everything about today is extraordinary. a striking resemblence to the monsoons and hurricans of my third world country who just a couple of weeks ago suffered through a devastation of a modern day biblical cleansing. rooftops became boats with tiny brown fingers holding and feet clutching at what from the look of it paper rafts that inevitably disintegrated as rivers became oceans. that storm left hundreds of people dead. the corpses of what used to be fathers, mothers, sons and daughters joined in the soup of dead animals and trees still whirling in manila bay. the storm continues to rage, as if its first visitation was just a flirtation before the real fucking over begins. after the government officials have finished stuffing their pockets of the last dollar donated, right before the victims have barely gained their breath over the deluge, the storm rages on. outside is tame in comparison. tsunami to a drizzle. the fear and excitement is still the same. such a delight to hear the wind push against the windows, the rain soaking in, the cold lingering at the tips of my fingers. the world whispering in my ear that i am just a visitor. i am just passing through.