Reggie's Garden

Roses were fewer than lilies in Reggie's garden, the one that lies in the valley right below Mount Manunggal you can actually see the site where Pres. Magsaysay's Douglas C-4 plane crashed and killed the guy. There used to be nothing but roses of all varieties. But when Reggie's father died, Reggie decided to plant other flowering plants and ornamentals -- greens and lilies and chrysanthemum and birds of paradise.

There were more lilies than roses in Reggie's garden. Well, at least that time when he bought me there. We spent the night sleeping in the nipa hut with only the stars to distract the darkness. We spent that late afternoon walking around the flower beds in silence and almost in tiptoe as he said the flowers were about to rest and they didn't want to be disturbed. That night, we made love with lilies all around us. He asked me to stay there and tend the flowers with him. We would make good money he said. I looked around, listened to the bamboo trees and said no. I had to go.

There are no lilies now in Reggie's garden. He left the farm. He went to the city and got addicted to the night life there. He found an American friend who owns a company that distributes digital cameras all over the world. He is seventy five years old. The guy found a small castle in Dresden, Germany and bought it as a lovenest for him and Reggie.

Reggie left this morning for Frankfurt, then to Dresden. I think there are flower beds in Dresden, maybe roses and lilies and edelweis too.

But there are no more flowers in Reggie's garden, no roses or lilies. He sold his farm, the one he inherited from his ancestors, the one he asked me to tend with him the rest of his life.

I shall miss you Reggie, and the lilies, too.

This song is for you.