'Toiling': A poem by the late Max Soliven

Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day and if there is anyone that I would certainly miss, it’s the Valentine’s Day columns of our late mentor Sir Max Soliven, who wrote in very colorful language what usually happens in the day when lovers show their affection to one another, either in a plush hotel restaurant or seedy motel room. It takes the Dean of Columnists to write articles like his without fear or favor, even if he had publicly declared that he was the chapter president of Takosa Inc. (Takot sa asawa!).

This week, the widow of Sir Max, UNESCO Ambassador Preciosa Soliven, was in Cebu for a series of conference with her assistant Loi Ramirez, and I brought them to the Ayala Business Park’s newest addition dubbed “The Terraces” for dinner. Knowing my closeness to Sir Max, Mrs. Soliven gifted me with a book published by the Operation Brotherhood Montessori Center Inc. entitled “Maximo V. Soliven Ave Triumphator! A Collection of Timeless Poems.” This book is a welcome addition to my small library.

During many of my outings with Sir Max often during lunch or dinner, whenever we talked about historic current events, he would often pause and tell us, “I had a poem for that particular time” and he would immediately recall his lines to all our amazement. Since he would rattle off his lines so quickly, no one could catch up and jot down these poems. When I asked him for a copy of the poems he made, he merely said, “In due time, I will have it published.” Apparently the time came two years after his death.

As Christians, we know that while they are no longer physically present in this life, we know that our dearly departed live on somewhere, hopefully in the embrace of God Almighty. With today’s global turmoil or unparalleled corruption, I often ask myself, what would Sir Max be thinking or writing if he were alive today? Searching the book of poems that Mrs. Soliven gave me, I found a poem that I felt was the thoughts of Sir Max for us today. So allow me to reprint this particular poem.

TOILING

Comes a time in the life of a fellow,

When he must be made to choose.

When he not fate finds the problem

Of whether to win or lose!

It’s then that he must show that he’s a fighter

It’s when he must show that he’s a man,

It’s easy to say the longer word “can’t”

And harder to say, “I can!”

But if he’s the stuff God has made him

And knows that life’s full of ruts,

And goes right through without flinching,

He’s a fellow that’s really got guts!

There aren’t any detours on the high road,

If you really want to go through;

The harder you pull at toll’s bumpy way,

The smoother it comes for you!

Oh, Fate’s just a wiley Old Master,

And the world revolves day to day,

But still in the end, if you haven’t just tried

It’s you who’ll have to pay!

Life is a battle and you’ve got to win,

It’s a joust where there is a tie,

If you fall, get up, and try, try again,

Soaring once more to the sky!

And when the last peak is surmounted,

When the very last quarter is run,

When the wearied toiler, gasping, views

The set of his dimming sun,

Then the dark of oblivion shall greet him,

But yet, because he had tried,

He’s given a help to the others behind,

To which many may point to with pride!

During my last conversation with Sir Max, we talked about how the Philippines hadn’t changed much in the 20 years after the EDSA Revolt and seemed to get worse as the years went by. But this poem touched me that despite the dimming sun, we weary Filipinos have toiled our way in search of a better life and with pride we shouldn’t lose hope that tomorrow will surely come and a better dawn may just await us all, if we looked up to God in the sky.

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For e-mail responses to this article, write to [email protected]. Bobit Avila’s columns can also be accessed through www.philstar.com. He also hosts a weekly talkshow, “Straight from the Sky,” every Monday, 8 p.m., only in Metro Cebu on Channel 15 of SkyCable.