“HeArtfully Speaking” By Frank A Hilario

Yes, “HeArtfully Speaking” is my single phrase of praise of Jerry R Yapo’s first book of essays titled “Artfully Speaking.” This 75-page handy volume of 12 heartworks based on 12 artworks is an original, a good read.

Jerry’s book contains 12 essays with 12 art pieces as inspirers of the writer. The titles of the 12 heartpieces are:

“Atop A Carabao” (p4)
“Elbi Is Home” (p10)
“Curve-Spin”  (p16)
“Almost There” (p22)
“A Dog’s World” (p28)
“In Loving Memory” (p36)
“A Summa Story Retold” (p42)
“The Pilot, The Prince, And The Fox” (p48)
“Artfully Speaking” (p54)
“Show Openings” (p60)
“Vertical Living” (p66)
“A Commuter’s Tale” (p72).

In the Preface, Jerry says:

Writing is my creative space and the essay the most congenial genre in my attempt to make sense of life’s defining moments. Such moments looped together propel our lives in a certain direction.

I know the feeling. I have been writing thousands of (digital) essays myself since 2000, with a few extra long ones of 8,000 words or so each. In the last few years, I have trimmed down to exactly 517 words each essay (Frank A Hilario). Each of Jerry’s essays is long, at least 1,300 words – fitting the purpose of the writing.

Here are selections from the book:

Elbi Is Home
Home is where the greenery abounds. Green is the prime color of the university town, and it is that from which the enchantment arises.

Maria(ng) Makiling, the mountain goddess, continues to animate stories not only among the townsfolk, but also among occasional guests and adventurous hikers who have trudged the forest mountain’s challenging trails…

Jerry is fond of dogs. Here is from
A Dog’s World
Maximus, Cicero and Jubaira have been true to their calling as retrievers. Misplaced small garden tools are found. Itinerant farm snakes and house rats are brought to the garage. Misplaced smart phones are shoved to our faces.

Ha, ha!

Here is from
The Pilot, The Prince, And The Fox
The pilot becomes conscious of the little prince in him again. The laughter of the little prince evokes joy in the pilot, prompting him to recover his sense of discovery and wonderment…. The pilot and the little prince have come together. And the fox has paved the way for their being one.

And from
A Commuter’s Tale
Considering traffic as a problem is fraught with possible solutions to address it. But let that be within the purview of national government to address… A paradigm shift may change the way we look at the traffic problem.

Overall, as a reader I must say I like all of the essays. The concept of the whole book is imaginative and lovable.

I have one caveat; the book needs a little editing – this is an editor speaking. Like “Elbi” – for those non-UPLB target readers – should have been explained as coming from the acronym “UPLB” and the town Los Baños, just like “Diliman” refers to “UP Diliman” and the Quezon City village.

So? It’s not a perfect tale – but it’s a perfect try!@517