In Between

By J. B. Villegas Villegas

In the quest of full understanding of the purpose of our existence, we are left with a daunting taskto try to fill in the profound gap between life and death.

This collection is a grand rumination on the human. Like the sword of Damocles, death hangs above our heads, and we have nothing with which to face this inevitability but the meaning we have created out of our fleeting lives.

While the poems included in this book contemplate life and death, they focus on the many facets of those which we encounter in betweenjoy, sorrow, lust, love, apathy, hatred, forgiveness, success, failure, faith, sin, and so onand how the lessons we learn from them constitute that which we hold on in continuing to live.

Life, after all, is worth living.

Jade Mark B. Capianes
Writer

In Between (are a skunk scent and a musk oil) is a poetry collection about life and deathand the great drama in between (Bro. James F. Adams, FMS, director, Champagnat Hall).

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Aug 19, 2016
• ISBN: 9781532003301

J. B. Villegas Villegas

J. B. Villegas is the author of the poignant novel The Third Reason. She lives in Texas.

Book preview

Copyright © 2016 J. B. Villegas.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-5320-0329-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5320-0330-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016912675

iUniverse rev. date: 08/20/2016

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Contents

I.   Beginning

BIRTH

# 1

# 2

II.   In Between

LOVE

# 3

# 4

# 5

# 6

# 7

# 8

# 9

# 10

# 11

# 12

# 13

AMBIVALENCE

# 14

# 15

# 16

# 17

# 18

# 19

# 20

# 21

# 22

# 23

# 24

# 25

# 26

# 27

# 28

# 29

# 30

# 31

HYPOCRISY AND DECEPTION

# 32

# 33

# 34

# 35

# 36

# 37

# 38

# 39

# 40

# 41

# 42

LONELINESS AND REJECTION

# 43

# 44

# 45

# 46

# 47

# 48

# 49

# 50

# 51

# 52

# 53

FREEDOM AND HUMAN CHARACTER

# 54

# 55

# 56

# 57

# 58

# 59

# 60

# 61

# 62

# 63

# 64

# 65

# 66

# 67

# 68

# 69

DEFIANCE AND COURAGE

# 70

# 71

# 72

# 73

# 74

# 75

# 76

# 77

# 78

# 79

# 80

# 81

# 82

# 83

DEATH

# 84

# 85

# 86

#87

# 88

# 89

# 90

# 91

#92

# 93

ATTEMPTS

# 94

#95

# 96

# 97

OFFERED WORDS

# 98

# 99

# 100

# 101

# 102

# 103

# 104

# 105

# 106

# 107

# 108

# 109

# 110

# 111

# 112

# 113

# 114

# 115

# 116

# 117

# 118

# 119

# 120

# 121

# 122

# 123

# 124

# 125

# 126

# 127

# 128

# 129

QUOTES

# 130

# 131

# 132

#133

#134

#135

#136

#137

III.   Transition

# 138

To Regalada B. Villegas, my mother, whose life is poetry itself.

To Liborio Villegas, my father, Florencio and Ines Luz Mendoza, Rudy and Susan Dorado, Michael and Brenda Spencer, Lorenzo and Lorie Villegas, Paulo Angelo Mariano and Jacquelyn Rose Mariano, Deniel Sandino Mariano and Mira Mariano, Armela Rea Mariano Carlon and Jaypee Carlon, Jerry Mariano, Francis Mendoza, Theresa Mendoza, Elisha Susana Dorado, Eleanor Pamela Dorado, Prescilla Dorado, Kathy Villegas, Mark Villegas and to the first one, Kaira Lily Mariano, who write their private poetry through their own good, beautiful lives.

Acknowledgments

To Ms. Celestina Pangan, a computer and state-of–the-art communication gadgets enthusiast, who helped me with the graphics and manuscript preparation

To Mr. Michael J. Rigal, for the computer works, graphics, and lay-out

To Ms. Armela Rea V. Mariano, for the illustrations

To Mr. Jade Mark Capiñanes, for editing, proofreading and summary statement of the manuscript

To Mr. Jay Squires and Mr. Roi Calilong, for taking me back to the literary road

Thank you with deepest gratitude.

In between birth and death

Is a living drama

Full and wanting

Bitter and sweet

Pain and joy

Dark and light

Growth and decay

In between birth and death—

Is—Life pregnant with—

A skunk scent and a musk oil.

I.   Beginning

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BIRTH

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# 1

Birth—Death, Sun—Moon,

I—

Reality is plural

Life is singular.

# 2

Welcome the world that welcomed you

When you were born

The world may never fully disclose its secrets

But it offers you