The Little Mosque by the Sea - Santa Cruz, Davao del Sur

She beckons

Like a hundred dreams of summertime

So when she flutters,

Specks of starlight welcome

Like pellets of sunshine by the shore;

Like moonbeams on a balmy night.

I spoke of her incantations,

Weary of mermaid’s calls

As those that set fishers folk 

Yonder where the sea touches the sky,

Be gone in lambent beam. 

She stood callous, but heedful

Of my bewilderment for her existence

In a parcel just four spans of my heart.

I ponder,

I ponder,

I ponder until I slumber

- Eye in the Sky, April 2, 2013

In the many instances that I've traveled along the mostly deserted roads of the Davao highway, south of the Philippine islands, I have always been fascinated by this mosque, modest in size and design, that used to sport chipping off paint along the coast of Santa Cruz, Davao del Sur's northernmost municipality. But they've recently managed a fresh dab of paint. I've always wanted to stop and gaze by the roadside, but this somehow never materialized. After all, a sinewy road flanked by the eastern ocean and the cantankerous hill westward is never an ideal place to linger..

So one day, I stopped. I stood in front and just stared for a couple of minutes while I was wrapped in a state of frozen stasis. Somewhere in the vicinity in barrio Loay stands this simple beauty. An imam decked in traditional muslim frock motioned that I could see it up close, but I just smiled, shrugged and thanked him for his kindness. Isn't it mysterious what sets our soul to rest? Yet there are raging wars all over the region. My God is a Catholic God, but I know there's a universal Almighty who answers to the deepest desires of peaceful men. Let war be a figment of a bad dream. Please.

This is the Eye in the Sky!

This locator photo only courtesy of wikipedia.