MARVEL
My brother tells me that the sky is a blank canvas at this time of day but I never took notice of it. Maybe it is because I did not bother much to look up, or to look at anything else besides the ground. I went to the same place at the same time every single day to look for live clams, half-open bivalves , and washed up seaweeds. I looked, but I never wandered.
There was not a time when silence enveloped the shore: the waves enter in turmoil, but through their course they become soft, like a set of dominos hitting one another in a continuous motion until the last tile. The wind hums to the water swaying, as they too come and go in short sequences. I move forward and tread on grains of sand, multicolored rocks, and crushed shells with my bare feet. The ground rustles softly. They murmur as they allow themselves to sink deeper into the water.
The shore speaks and breathes life. It senses my heartbeat and I close my eyes and take a deep breath. Things are left unnoticed when they are routine, but these things make the day complete. Beauty announces itself in every possible way that it can, one just has to be willing to look. F
Words by KRIZIA MAICA G. MAGBITANG
Photo by KATRINA MAE H. MARCOS
