By: Giselle General
On June 28, 2025, I performed for an event in Edmonton by the University of the Philippines Alumni Association, to wrap up Philippine Heritage Month is a meaningful way. Panels, social and political discussions and artistic performances offered a rich program of insights and connection.
The inspiration for the poem is my experiences over the past five years, where I had the opportunity and honour to produce historical articles about Filipinos in Edmonton and how they made an impact, through an initiative called Edmonton City As Museum Project. This poem is a glimpse in my mind of my experiences researching, writing and submitting these articles, one in 2020 and one just this year.
Around the corner, Of a quiet neighbourhood street, Quaint shops form a line, One with a banner name, A play on words of a national brand, Selling more than function, But familiarity in seemingly simply products.
An eager phone call from a Tito, “Oh this person, call them ha?!”, So you give them a chance, a means,To relive, envision, memories of distant past, A vignette in the mind, The foundation of their endeavours, When the city was half its size.
A smile as bright, As that pristine chef’s uniform, Fill the TV screen. Curious eyes and steady microphones made the simmering pot shine. If only the aroma can reach their homes! But then, it soon did. The steamy metal box on wheels, Arms reaching out the window, Handing take out containers, Filling bellies, minds and hearts, In a park, or a street, of this festival city.
A dim hallway, The light sparking to show facts and figures, maps and artifacts, The large sign saying “Alberta Transforms.” In a case of glass, a row of graying photos, Cotton fabric both warm and sterile, Metal implements that cut, measure or heal the body, All for everyone to see, What a kababayan has done since half a century.
Meron palang ganyan! Faded photos, showing constellations, Wistful voices of relief and recollection. ith my phone, my pen, my ear, and my eyes, Filling with knowledge and facts, The arroz caldo filling my belly.
Ang dami pala nilang ginawa! Titles, accolades, fragments almost forgotten. Woven together, not with finesse, Simply an eagerness to retell.
Sana nakwento ko ng maganda! In a city with no museum of its own, In digital homes and public memory, Archived in modern ways, Bearing witness to threads of lasting legacy.
We are this, but more than just that. And I hope that’s what everyone gets to see. We are what we remember, What we record. Out story is alive, Evolving, And never ending.
FilipinaYEG 