Culture and Arts Notebook

POEM     A smile on the face Of a young man passing by A bird on a branch Who looks right at you, then at the sky The whisper of the wind On a hot and arid day A…

“There is a saying, particularly apt for wildlife photography: the best camera is the one you have with you.”~ Elizabeth Barrett She is the author of the book, “A Foreigner’s Guide to Moscow” (available on Amazon, http://www.e-barrett.com/page2.htm) and is as intent on…

POEM AND A PIECE OF MUSIC       by Trudi Lee Richards   This mini-episode consists of a poem called “Unleash Peace” and a piano composition called “Heart of Hearts,” both inspired by a daily meditation for peace and…

In February 2021, I went out to breakfast with a friend of mine whose husband died after a long illness. We refreshed the friendship after years of living, picking up the bittersweet pieces of life’s joys and tragedies with the…

PROSE POEM     #1.The Turtle Pond Mornings, as a child, I watch him go down the stairs The China man, clad in all white, who lives upstairs. Newspaper in hand, all ready for a day’s work, But, before anything…

Writers from Rhymes of PEG and new members of the Concerned Artists of the Philippines, Bicol Chapter, will be conducting an online fundraising event for the affected barangays of Sorsogon caused by the eruption of the Bulusan Volcano. The said…

ART EXHIBIT     by Genevieve Balance-Kupang “Visual arts were meticulously designed using colors, forms, lines, and shapes, among others Broaching uniqueness, semblances, and contrasts Combined together, they spell symmetry, peace, love, harmony, and brilliance Creative expressions of humanity’s unique…

ENDANGERED SPECIES ESSAY I’m still here. Don’t let me go. ~Robert Krulwich Once deemed extinct in Lord Howe Island (LHI), where they are endemic, today only 35 Lord Howe Island Stick insects (Dryococelus australis), are alive in the wild, but not…

We are only 4,500 m ASL, after having climbed up to almost 5,000. These are the lands of the vicuña that Coquena cares for so much, and which coexist with the llama, the guanaco and the alpaca. We are in…

Today I cannot talk to you about sweetness and softness. Today I will say nothing of the spring breeze that comes green and fragrant I will not mention the foam that crowns the waves of the sea dawn and I…