'Un Certain Jour de Juin'

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As I keep on reiterating, my deep love for music has gifted me with so many brilliant friends—friends worthy of being treasured till the twilights of my earthly existence. One of these friends whom I met only relatively recently is Rommie Ramos; though we could have known each other way back in the '80s for in those days we were immersed in the same alternative-music scene. We were, safe to say, both "children" of DWXB 102.7, a now-defunct Philippine radio station that in the '80s played Punk Rock and New Wave music. Yeah, the station that dared to be different.

I met Rom through the newwave101 yahoogroup list of which both of us are active members. I think, our flare for poetry, which radiated in our postings, was the spark that ignited our regard and respect for each other. We may still be both clueless as regards the historical character of each other, but I feel that passion for music and literature is enough to draw two distant souls together as friends.

Rom surprised me with a testimonial she wrote of me on Friendster, dated June 16, 2005. She wrote me a poem in French. Luckily, I'm a big fan of languages and writing systems, so in spite of my inability to speak or read French fluently, I somehow figured out and understood most of the words. But, of course, I wanted to enjoy the poem in its full glory; so, what I did was, ask my French-speaking best-friend Pet de Jesus to translate the poem for me.

Pet and I have known each other since 1982, Grade 5 (St. Mary's Academy, Pasay City), and we became friends in highschool (Sta. Clara Parish School, Pasay City), 1984–'88. In fact, he was the rhythm guitarist of my band Half Life Half Death. He graduated at the University of the Philippines with a degree in European Languages, Major in French. He currently lives in Paris, France, and works at the French headquarters of the United Nations.

Rom, on the other hand, studied at St. Scholastica's College, De La Salle University, and Alliance Francaise de Manille. She teaches; loves to travel; loves music, poetry, and literature.

This is the poem Rom wrote for me:

Un Certain Jour de Juin

le ciel au-dessus de la montagne
a l'aube, un moulin a vent
au crepuscule, un verse de vin
les feuilles d'automne
un certain jour de juin

les arbres, le poeme
une image, les deux demis
il fait chaud, il fait froid
il fait du vent mais il fait beau

un sentiment, quelque chose de beau
plusieurs sont venus sans savoir pourqoui
c'est la route de Manitoba

j'espere que tu te portes bien
ouvre la porte! le livre!
les fleurs, la memoire
c'est l'été qui revient

This is Pet's English translation of the poem:

A Certain Day in June

the sky over the mountain
at dawn, a windmill
at twilight, a draught of wine
the autumn leaves
a certain day in June

the trees, the poem
an image, the two halves
it's hot; it's cold
it's windy, but the weather's beautiful

a feeling, something beautiful
some have come without knowing why
it's the road to Manitoba

I hope you're doing fine
open the door, the book

the flowers, the memory
Summer is back!