"Adieu, Adios, Paalam, Farewell"

"Adieu, Adios, Paalam, Farewell"

By Mateo Laurencio Vicente M Rotor 13

8-St Augustine, St Paul College of Ilocos Sur

"... do not count the days - 

let the days count you,

for every fleeting second 

   shapes the soul anew." 

- MLVM Rotor

Trees in Autumn Breeze, in acrylic on canvas (28"x 48") by MLV Rotor 2026

Life begins with the Three Fates of Time,

Past, Present, & Future, easy like a rhyme,

But he who lives in only light is naive, I say,

For they have no idea of what pain lies 

beyond the grave.

Fragmented thoughts of the person I knew,

Not by my side, gone too soon.

"They shall rest on the Other side," they say,

But it's not easy as they think it may.

A time I spent, searching for a familiar face,

Yet found a stranger standing in my place,

I mourned a soul no grave ever claimed -

The one I was before the darkness came.

A Heart to live & A heart to rest,

Not all who live, stay in a stable conscience,

Grief to a naive soul,

Sometimes will extract a heavy toll.

At times, we laid no flowers upon a stone of gray,

For no one saw the one who passed away,

The only thing that truly lies there, dead,

Is probably who we were before 

the tears were shed.

The mask of deceit is what we use,

To hide from the unwanted, terrifying truth,

To run from what we do not know,

But we are only running straight 

for our own sorrow.

So we want to mourn, we weep in the rain,

But the thing is, nobody came.

Like the last sip of tea that's already gone,

Comforting, familiar, but hard to carry on.

Love is blinding, that I know is true,

For where one once stood now remains a Delta Rune* -

an absence, an echo, a hidden wound.

To dwell in the past is like being a slave,

One bad thought, digs your own mental grave.

But think on what is on the other side,

A key to your soul, that grants the ability to fly.

You can play it sensible, be the king of conventional,

Or you could trade it all for something colorful.

Like a hand you refuse to let go,

Your emotions may be binding your soul,

But come with us and take the ride,

We'll take you to the other side.

So remember, laughter that falls silent is not a finale,

It's something that we can make dreams 

and promises reality.

A melody of the heart is bright like a flame,

Banishing the darkness, replacing it

with warmth of your name.

Reliving the memories is a token of gold,

To build stories that are yet to unfold,

Like the trees in an autumn breeze,

All are guides to aid as we leave.

Time is something that forever keeps its rule:

Past is history, future's mystery, 

present's life's true jewel!

So do not count the days - let the days count you,

For every fleeting second 

shapes the soul anew.

Though time may steal the voices that we knew,

Love leaves echoes in all we say and do.

Until our path beneath the heavens swell -

"Adieu, Adios, Paalam, Farewell." ~

Inspiring teacher's notes on the original copy of the poem impart 

an exalting and heart warming effect on the young poet.

The Delta Rune is said to predate written history. However, the original meaning has been lost in time. What is certain is the bottom triangles symbolize the monsters of the Underground. The winged circle is believed to represent the "angel," which is prophesized to be the one that has seen the Surface and will return one day to
depopulate the underground. This prophecy has two interpretations: one where the "angel" destroys the barrier and brings freedom to the monsters, and a more recent outlook on it, where it is an "Angel of Death" that kills everyone in the Underground, thus "freeing" them from the mortal realm. Internet