third mountain
daraitan introduced me to the majesty of
a sea of clouds — a mother mountain with my mom
sembrano showed me dreamily vast grasslands
— where i ran with friends i’ll hike with for life
but pattulak — patullak was a different personality
and a completely different story
it’s the one who told me every hike will offer new stories
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it showed me benguet
it showed me farmlands
it showed me locals who greet with really warm smiles
it showed me agriculture, economics
how the town moves with the tide of their crops
after all seasons, how they don’t ask for anything else but a simple life
it led me to sceneries I knew I grew up in
and then forgot as the city moved in me
it brought me back to how I was when I was six,
getting everything I need from Cavite’s coffee trees
I remembered how it was before
— when my sister was traversing through banana trees
when meeting her friends meant passing through patches of forests
as I follow her with soil on my hands, bugs on my pockets
It took me back, so far back it felt melancholic that i forgot.
pattulak’s peak was the highlight
— breathing in heaven-like view with touchable clouds
but surprisingly, it’s the walk to there that elevated me
to a canopy of vivid memories
and what it meant for twenty-six year old me
