personal Information: name: vincent rhiyn s. amalay a.b. philo lll st. vincent ferref seminary jaro, iloilo city nickname: ryan, boppeppe, rhiyn motto: "in life there are no mistakes, only lessons to be learn" "I expect to pass this life but once, if therefore, any goodness i can give or i can show, let it be... for i shall not pass this way again" favorite saint: st.therese of the child jesus

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In Solitude

it is not that i prefer
the darkness, no, rather
it is fear of light
that keeps me wary
or what things it might
illumine and make stark...

in my room, everything
is touched by shadow:
a bournt-out match, forgotten
wick of some candle, even
an antique brass lamp
with your initial on the base'
still decipherable, still

glistening from the memory
of so much smoothness...

if my fingers seem
worn to you it is because
i have spent ages running
them over the warm
wood and cool
metal of out past
like i am doing now

and so, as cool metal slowly
burns beneath the touch
of a lonely lover's hands
writing all this lines away,
so will the strains of some
forgotten sonata seep past
these layers of dirt to reach
the roots of our entwined
underground growth

and i will look up,
up from the walls
of so much ancient
wood to catch the soft
stealth of faint but steady
sunbeam on oil-
darkened floor

where all worn things
now seem warm


-unknown-

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St. Therese of the Child Jesus Doctor of the Church "I feel that my mission is soon to begin to make others love God as I do... to teach others my little way" "Jesus deigned to show me the road that leads to the divine surface and this road is the surrender of the little child who sleeps without fear in its father's arms"


Dare to risk to laugh is to risk appearing the fool.
to weep is to risk appearing the sentimental
to reach for another is to risk involvement.
to expose your feelings is to risk exposing
your true self
to love is to risk not being loved in return...
to live is to risk dying
to believe is to risk dispair
to try is to risk failures

but r-i-s-k-s must be taken, because the greatest
hazard in life is to risk nothing.
the people who risk nothing, do nothing,
have nothing are nothing
they may avoid suffering and sorrow, but
they cannot learn, change, grow, love, and live

chained by thier attitudes they are slaves;
they have forfeited thier freedom
only a person who risks is free...

rbc "osle" '99