Poetry is life distilled.
Gwendolyn Brooks
1985 United States Poet Laureate
Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.
Pablo Picasso
It was an easy decision to create this blog after joining a poetry competition, my first in 10-15 years. I did not win the said competition, but was awarded the consolation prize of my personal desire to revive poetry in my life and to honor others’ great works. And so this blog was born.
I had fully intended to dedicate this blog to poetry, mine and others’, but it no sooner became a personal journal of some sorts, at least in all creative aspects of my life. I see my words and pictures as my “journal entries”, and I believe they can: 1.) speak for themselves, and 2.) adopt whatever meaning the reader or viewer associates with them. Because poetry and art are both like that—they are for the creator, the individual, for the receiver, the group. Poetry and art is for anyone willing to “dive” into them.
I truly hope that my work, be it poetry or picture, encourages you to take the plunge.
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Cristine Vasquez (Anj to most her friends and Pássara to her Capoeira family) was born and raised in urban Manila, Philippines, a child of the 80’s. She started writing and painting at an early age, fuelled mostly by the routine monotony of private Catholic education. In a defiant act, she decided to attend the largest, most prestigious public university in the Philippines, and graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Architecture. She is now based in Napa Valley, CA, USA and works in education. She regularly trains the Brazilian dance-fight art of Capoeira and belongs to the group Cordão De Ouro.
Her family (mother Linda, stepfather Jonathan, sisters Anna and Angel, brother Luke and family pet Chum Chum) keep her busy.
She credits her best friends back in Manila with keeping her (in)sane, and she wonders when “he” would actually make a [bigger] move.
Her passion for poetry and art continue to grow each day.
