Ang Gagamba (The Spider)

I wrote this several years ago, in the Jesuit Retreat House called Mirador, in Baguio City. I remember it was a gloomy afternoon, and was about to rain. I remember being awed by the doggedness of the spider. How could he continue building his web, knowing that it will probably just be washed out by the rains? Perhaps, he didn’t know? Or perhaps he was just stubborn? Or maybe that’s how spiders are.

Maybe that’s how people are also. We are persistent in our longings and our hopes and our dreams. We hold on long after our brains tell us to let go. We love, and lose, and love again. We are most divine when we find ourselves most human.

Ang Gagamba
eric santillan
-8 day retreat. Mirador JesuitVilla.-

Nagkanda-hulog-hulog ka pa
Sa pagpanday ng bahay mong
Liliparin lamang ng hangin at
Lulunurin ng ulan.

Ewan ko ba kung nakikita mo ang
Papalapit na agos
O ang unos na sisira
Ng iyong mga pangarap.

Tuloy, iindap-indap at sasayaw-sayaw
Ka sa gitna ng iyong buhol-buhol
Na gawa-gawang
Bahay-bahayan.

Papalapit na ang ulan.
Siguradong magsisimula ka ulit.
Ngunit nakakapagtaka.

Tuloy ka pa rin.

About Eric Santillan

AngPeregrino is Eric Santillan. He is a management consultant for two firms specializing in sustainable business, competitiveness and risk management, cost control and culture management. During weekends, he does counselling for Clinica Salutare, an Integrative Health Clinic. He is also a writer for The Mindanao Current, a core group member of Heroic Leadership Philippines, and a retreat giver.