#SHEro: My grandma Carmen

This is a poetry submission for MovePH’s and Dakila’s ongoing #SHEro campaign:

My grandmother taught me that the key to happiness is not to over complicate things. She taught me to appreciate and be thankful for the small things as I should the big; that love is better communicated with action rather than just saying it. Her life taught me how it is to be resilient in trying times.

Carmencita Dofeliz Moncayo is my #SHEro.

It is almost a year since my grandmother passed and this was the poem I wrote as part of her eulogy:

Carmen

A simple barrio girl with kind eyes that shine like stars.
Her skin: fair and smooth it feels like rare silk to the touch.
Her hands: soft like pillows; her fingers: long and candle-like.
Her scent: hypnotizing, like a flowerbed in springtime.
Her smile: bright and accommodating, capturing the hearts of many.
A true beauty. 
A queen in her own right.

Years pass.
Her skin starts to wrinkle and begins to sag.
Her scent: musky but still laced with the scent of flowerbeds in springtime.
Her hands rough from years of hard work.
Her fingers molded by history: 9 children, 17 grandchildren.
Her kind eyes still shine like stars
Her smile still bright and accommodating.

There are times when she is afraid that her beauty has left her.
She apologizes for how the skin in her arm feels when you touch her,
For how her hands are rough when you hold them,
For how her cheeks feel when you kiss them,
For how her face is filled with lines as you try to memorize it.
But all you can ever think about is how she is beauty, personified.

She looks at you with child-like eyes filled with wonder,
Holds you in her arms and fills you with kisses,
Showering you with all the love she could ever give,
Because that’s just the type of person that she is.

She is not a woman of many words
Our languages are as different as they may come, 
Though we never really needed any.
Her actions spoke louder than any words could.

There are times when she feels that she doesn’t have much.
She apologizes for not having that much money to share,
For not having many material things to pass on,
For only having her stories, and
lessons from the colorful life she has lived.
But all you can ever think about is how you can only wish to have a heart like hers.

I’m grateful that in the fabric of life,
The universe has woven our stories together.
I bring with me your history,
As I face my future.

Thank you Lola. I love you.

Carmencita Dofeliz Moncayo
January 3, 1931 – April 4, 2014

– Rappler.com

Abigail Orbeta is a member and one of the founders of Words Anonmyous, a group of Filipino spoken word artists.

Who is your #SHEro and what have you learned from her? Send stories and poetry about your #SHEro to move.ph@rappler.com. You can also send us photos and artworks. Let’s celebrate women, let’s celebrate gender equality.