Acknowledgments

My Creator stirred my flare and steered my flair as I wrote this book.

It was a fulfilling experience as I endeavor, i.e., compose, craft, style,
encode, edit, research, lay-out/format, design, revise, proofread and
print the archetype.  Between chores, the entire course took years.

I would not delegate my writing hobby.  I would not commission
somebody else to write my own book.  The ardent zeal I derive while
going through the spectrum of the whole process was simply supreme.

I did not intend to publish this.  Earlier “editions”, I gave only to my
close friends as tokens or gifts on occasions.  Enthused response from
them and even from chance readers I hardly knew, were so inspiring,
giving me pleasant stimulus to hone my craft and cross borders.

Acknowledgments are due.  I am profoundly grateful and thankful –

To my wife, Nitz, for understanding;
to my sons, Niño, Paolo and Ken, for supporting.

To special ones, for loving me (amid shifting shades)
thru beds and bends;
you deserve your place in cherished pages here.

To real friends, for enduring with me (in-betweens)
thru odds and ends;
you warrant more than tokens of amity.

To Bob Peralta, Frank Peñones, Jun Balde, Marissa Andal, et. al.,
and every one, tropic or arctic, fanatic or critic, mystic or cynic
who somehow carved lyric nooks and niches within my psyche,
I extend my earnest esteem.

Then of course,
To Susan Vidal (writer/publisher) and her husband Paul
who diligently convinced me to publish this book,
I give due merit.

To my dear classmate Joy Enriquez-Flores
who intently offered to bankroll the project,
I give due credit.

Finally,

I doff my hat in quiet gesture of gratitude
to all the writers and poets (living or dead)
whose timeless quotations appear in this book.

CHITO L. AGUILAR
(C) 2008