come, stay and let's talk. it's a good day to be alive
Amid fleeting sheets of emotions,
a reckoning has arrived.
You have a choice
in this ephemeral moment.
As the phases of life comes in waves,
choose when to bite the bullet.
Perhaps we’ll ride to the glorious sunset.
Maybe we’ll submerge into dark ocean.
All is right when you make the decision.
12.27.2025
As I wake up in the morning,
I am yet again facing the aftermath
of breaking the promise to myself
that I would go to bed early.
I wake up and ponder yet again
what has gone wrong.
Haven’t I made a solemn promise?
Was my resolution not strong enough?
So, again, a solution is sought.
New resolutions are made,
a forgiveness is given,
and a new hope is molded.
12.26.2025
Thanks to you,
the world shined brighter.
My eyes filled with wonder,
my lungs could breath the warm air easily,
and my heart ran as freely as it can.
You’ve taught me the world can be molded with my hands
with a vision imagined through my mind’s eye.
Day after day, I am relishing the lesson.
Wherever you are, I wish you happiness.
12.23.2025
No more boasting.
Let’s face the facts, not impressions.
Let’s keep our minds sharp,
and weave the threads of our stories
to build a tapestry of network
that will wrap us in warmth and softness.
Let’s be honest to ourselves,
and deal the right things, for right time and right people.
Let’s build faithfully, intellectually, and emotionally.
Let’s be what matters the most.
12.21.2025
To listen to the story,
to offer a listening ear,
to share the burden in the heart
is a rare value we find in life.
To respect the other
regardless of the standards
and rooting for the other
without a need for evidence
is what I appreciate from a friend.
As I watch the crow’s feet growing deeper
in the eyes of the friend
I once knew from my childhood
I wonder what a blessing it was to have met such person.
12.20.2025
Wherever you are, I am wishing you love.
Sitting in a wooden arm chair next to a window,
basking in the orange rouge sunset light,
or dancing in the midst of chaotic ocean of humans,
I see you.
I am sending you love and warmth.
12.18.2025
The rain trickled down
soaking the hardened road.
Many had walked on the path
and some stopped and lingered.
After years,
no one walked on the road anymore.
One day, a bulldozer dug up the road
A new building was built on top of where it laid.
Did any of it meant anything?
Those people who walked by
and the road that withstood everyone walking over it?
I’d like to believe so.
And I’d like to remember it all.
12.16.2025
Taste is cold.
You eat what you find pleasurable.
You spit what tastes bitter.
But have you thought about
what it is like to taste bitter to others?
We all want to be accepted — to bring pleasure to others.
Even if yourself tastes acerbic to others,
if you were to taste someone caustic,
you wouldn’t hesitate to spit them out
even as you beg for others to accept yourself.
So, taste is cold, I think.
But a part of me also hopes
that it is a guide through a narrow path
for us to ultimately reach what we’ve all been truly wanted.
12.15.2025
Final day of the Rhode Island trip.
I got up early again, with my eyes puffy and inflamed because of sleep deprivation. One last seminar awaited me, and I still wanted more of Providence. I packed my bags and took a last look around the room before checking out.
I got my smoothie from In The Pink (213 Thayer St.) and headed to the seminar. There wasn’t much to listen to. I felt the second day had the most relevant topics. My mind wandered about where I could go to explore more of Providence.
After the seminar, I was invited to a Korean fried-chicken restaurant called Den Den Korean Fried Chicken (182 Angell St.). As a Korean whose taste buds have met the pinnacles of Fried Chicken in this category and shot my standards way up, these were subpar (personally, 2/5; Google says 4.5/5). As I finished this meal, my day just freed up.
There was already a sense of mourning. It felt like an adventure was just about to start in Providence, but it ended abruptly. I sought ways to salvage it, but I knew I needed to return. A burdening sense of pressure took its place at the back of my mind, calling me back home to work, and I agreed with it.
Eventually, I made a compromise: a short walk by the Providence river.
After the short walk, I visited a cafe called Small Point Café (230 Westminster St.). It had a Boston/NYC cafe vibe: hipster, homey, and bookish.
One thing to note about this cafe is that it closes a bit early (at 4 PM) on Mondays ~ Thursdays. Closes a bit later on Fridays ~ Sundays.
After working in the café for a few hours, I stopped by Symposium Books (240 Westminster St.). I bought a magnet from this bookstore that said “Providence, Wicked Nice”. It captured what I thought of Providence perfectly, and I bought it to commemorate the visit.
I remember visiting this bookstore once, when I lived in Boston, MA. While it piqued my interest, I found none of the book appealing. Alas, I took the place and returned to my apartment. Albeit short, Providence, Rhode Island, left a strong impression. It’s a pleasant place to visit during the summer. Don’t expect too much from the food. Enjoy the scene and the relationships you build with people there.
Perhaps it’s not that you have the capability to do anything that you love;
rather, it’s because you love that you can do anything.
A human can be limited as a mere mortal
yet it’s love that allows for sublimation from constraints.
It’s not what you can get from the other,
but rather what you can give for them.
For their presence in my space is a gift in itself,
nothing can get in the way of your dedication to them.
Let the light grow in this pitch darkness.
12.12.2025
Ralph with Coffee 
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