What makes life worth living

I greatly appreciated the Inquirer’s use of Masahide’s classic haiku to caption that beautiful shot of a man taking stock of what remains of his house after it was reduced to cinders by a fire (Metro, 3/1/14).

Reading news reports that are predominantly of the gloom and doom variety also affects readers in a negative way so that once in a while we need to be reminded that seeing, appreciating and enjoying beauty, poetry and all that jazz is what makes life worth living. For the benefit of your readers who might not be that familiar with Masahide’s haiku, allow me to present three complete versions:

“Now that my storehouse has burned down, nothing stands in the way of moon-viewing.

“Barn’s burnt down—now I can see the moon.

“Since my storehouse burned down, I now own a better view of the rising moon.

—ANTONIO CALIPJO GO,

academic supervisor,

Marian School of Quezon City,

199 Sauyo Road, Novaliches,

Quezon City 1116