STRANGER

by Yerica Hannah Ramos

Now that I look at myself, I see a stranger that has just emerged from the ashes of yesterday. I was like steel that has been forged into sword for years and every strike left me a different mark until I cannot recognize myself anymore. It has been a long, fulfilling, and dreadful process.

I am now better than I ever was—more useful and productive than the lame plain steel I once was. However, I cannot help but ponder about those parts of me which needed to be casted away for me to be who I am today. I have lost too much for this one thing to be gained. And as I continue to walk the path paved for me, I know I will continuously lose something along the way in order to get the things really meant for me.

Every day, I stand in front of the mirror with a different person in front of me. Someone I continuously know and understand in this lifetime. I know someday, when I get to flip over the pages of this book again, I won’t even remember which person wrote this. All I’ll ever be sure is that she once looked at me straight in the eyes and helped me become who I am really meant to be.

In the thick of the desert, a frazzled yellowcoated wanderer searching for a place that could bestow him the pause he has been imploring after a tiresome trip has sat down beneath the limited shades my trunk provides. Then, he went on with his day after regaining energy from an immediate recharge. Tightlipped, he left some teardrops on the ground.

I hope he found the respite he needs halfway through that quick pause. Along the way, I hope he lands in a bountiful forest.

by Jimuel C. Sagario