Eileen Tabios

There is a reason why I had to know Eileen. She is a mentor to my fiancée. At the same time, she is a mentor to me. I am at a stage where chains burden my soul. Eileen is a vision of the Virgin Mary that gives me hope. St. Jude is the patron saint of all hopeless causes, my mother always told me. Eileen is my St. Jude.

I am a visual artist trying to write. No, I do not speak to Eileen about writing. I do not speak to Eileen for that matter about technicality. However, learning does not have to be in the form of lessons. Eileen teaches me that seeing things in a new light can co-opt, coerce and subvert the dominant paradigm. I am trying to release myself from the bonds of colonialism. Eileen is my St. Jude.

Each time I see Eileen, I am inspired, awed by her achievements, and eager to learn the minutia of life. She married poetry like Ansel Adams married photography. She gave up much to pursue avant-garde poetry as Christ gave up his life to pursue his destiny. She is the nexus of the Philippine arts community. The soil from which a forest will storm out with incandescence.

Behind every successful woman is a partner who will cajole, humor and smirk at the oddities of life. Tom is the monolith on which Eileen stands on. Tom is the river course for Eileen's river. Without one, there is no other. At the very least, the other would be very different.

I have not been paid nor is this an advertisement for the long-lashed one who hears the fallen angels. It is simply the truth.