Winnowing
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I watch my grandmother
As she patiently winnows the grains
Moving the winnowing basket
Up, down; up down
Tossing its content into the air.
I see the chaffs being blown away
Leaving behind the grains.
Then, when there are no more chaffs left,
She stops, but she’s not yet done.
She spreads the grains out thinly on the flat basket
And looks for pebbles that might have
Been mixed with the grains.
She picks the pebbles and throws them away.
I stare at her hands, rough from hard labor;
Amazed at how patiently she works.
Then I begin to realize, life’s like that —
A continuous process of winnowing;
Of separating the grains from the chaffs.
Only that sometimes, we throw away
The grains; not the pebbles, not the chaffs.
[And then we spend the rest of our lives
Staring at the empty husks of our choices
Wondering where the grains went,
Chasing after them, and not seeing them
Amidst the mountains of chaffs
With which we have surrounded ourselves.]
————-
For Lola Matda. When I was young and life was simple, every afternoon, my grandmother and I would go to the big square pavement near our house where grain buying stations dried their rice grains. Using walis tingting (broom) we would sweep the pavement and gather grains that the workers have not swept (we were more meticulous than they).
Everyday, we would get about a kilo of grains, or more. When we got home, my grandmother would winnow the rice grains. And she would patiently take away the pebbles that were mixed with the grains. Sometimes, I would help her. At other times, I would just watch her. The ratio of pebble to grain could have been 1:6. So it was really a kind of work that needed lots of patience.
I remember, after several weeks or months, my grandmother would gather a cavan of rice.
Oh, I so miss my childhood. And my grandma.
//Sherma E. Benosa
June 5, 2009; 8:10am
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June 5th, 2009 at 3:52 pm
Winnowing rice requires skill and dexterity, of maturity, not necessarily old age
. Newbies and sloppy-joes may perform the act but with the risk of losing too much of the valuable grain –as in life, we throw away much of our oppurtunities.
Masters can even skillfuly separate, not only the hulls but also the broken from the whole grains in only one winnowing basket without throwing away the less valuable ones.
So as in life…
June 7th, 2009 at 6:40 pm
i like the way you wrote it. nice poem
alam mo frend, nung bata ako. gustong gusto kong panoorin ang nanay ko habang nagtatahip ang nanay ko. ibig kaseng sabihin nito ay may isasaing kami
… sa hirap ng buhay noon ang pagtatahip ay naglalarawan din ng pag-asa. 
drama ba? hehe
sa ngayon kapag umuuwi ako, nakikita ko parin ang nanay ko..nagtatahip ng bigas..minsan nga kinuhanan ko sya ng litrato eh.
June 7th, 2009 at 7:44 pm
Winnowing in life is a daily process - mama helps me a lot.
June 7th, 2009 at 8:26 pm
nice… :)
June 9th, 2009 at 7:27 am
A continuous process of winnowing;
Of separating the grains from the chaffs.
Only that sometimes, we throw away
The grains; not the pebbles, not the chaffs.
This really struck me. I don’t want to be guilty of throwing out the grains. Lord, help me see clearly.
Thanks, Sherma.
June 9th, 2009 at 5:29 pm
naalala ko tuloy nung bata ako.. madalas namin gawin ito! tuwang tuwa ako kapag ako ang inutusan ng nanay kong gumawa nito ;)
June 9th, 2009 at 7:39 pm
lola’s boy din ako
ganda yun drawing, ha
it draws you in
your writing is impeccable - as always
pahiram naman ng talent mong yan
June 12th, 2009 at 5:18 am
Oh this had me in tears. Not bad tears but poignant tears. It took me back to part of my childhood and my own grandmother and things we did. The is so endearingly written. Very wise also, on so many levels. I’ve been thinking of you my dear friend. I hope things are going okay in your world. My life has had too much work lately but I may get the day off tomorrow. I’ve had little time for blogging. But I am so glad I came here to feel your heart as pure as ever on these pages. Such beauty. Your writing leaves me humbled. It is truly more than writing. It is a finely honed craft filled with amazing insight and beauty. Sending you love and a big hug. Robin :)
June 14th, 2009 at 8:27 am
Thank you for reminding me of a similar scene from my childhood. We may come from different physical and cultural places but under those differences are things are the same no matter where you are.
This is a beautiful write. You have tucked the gems of wisdom, that if used, would make life worth more than we can ever quantify. :)
June 14th, 2009 at 7:20 pm
So, so beautiful. I love the idea of this patient work. I’ve never winnowed anything…well apart from the winnowing that goes on everyday in life. And often I’m worried that I can’t tell the grain from the chaff.
June 16th, 2009 at 9:13 am
VF: Thank you for that thought-provoking comment, Buddy. Indeed, there are so many things we can associate with the grain-chaff analogy, yet whatever they are — opportunities, happiness, love, family, and so on, the same thing applies. Indeed, it is a struggle for most of us to ‘keep the grain and throw the chaffs’ because sometimes, our eyes are easily deceived. We tend to forget that not all that glitters is gold.
ELI Hi friend. Perhaps you’d like to lend me a pic of your mother winnowing para yun ang gamitin ko in this poem. hehe. Hiram without paalam lang kasi itong pic na ginamit ko. I just provided a link.
I am so happy to see that this poem has triggered all of us to remember our nice childhood memories.
PAPA You are one lucky man! In life, we do need a lot of help in winnowing our daily experiences. Lucky are those who are surrounded with people who know that above all things, love and relationships matter the most.
JOSH MARIE Hiya there. Welcome to P[e]NORAMA.
Thank you so much for the comment. Hope you’d stick around. 
MICHELLE I think we are all guilty of that. Just that there are those who are more guilty,
So true, if there is someone who can help us recognize the grain from the chaff, and guide us to keep the former and throw away the latter, it is the One above. 
June 16th, 2009 at 9:27 am
SANDI Ah, friend. I enjoyed doing it as well. It was a nice experience learning to winnow because not everyone can do it, I think!
Ah, childhood memories. I am so glad this humble scribble of mine brought them back to you.
RAFTER So true. Kaya nga hindi ko napigilan ang sarili ko na hiramin. Yun nga lang, I feel guilty. Wa paalam.
Impeccable? I think my pen’s still in the faltering stage. Pero salamat, friendster, for liking its drips. 
Hi Robin! You and everyone else here humble me. I am actually shocked to find that so many of you could get transported back to your own childhood as I muse about mine. So humbling… Thank you so much, my friend. Your comment made me speechless. I’ve been busy too. I still am, that’s why I have not been able to respond to your comments sooner. I hope to be able to go around the bloggosphere tom. C u.
Mysoul Hi friend. How are you? I hope you are alright. I like what you said, that “We may come from different physical and cultural places but under those differences are things are the same no matter where you are.” Very wise and so true. And thank you. You write very well as well, that’s why I keep coming back to your pages.
BIRD Yes, I love the idea of patient work as well. It teaches us so mny lessons. Winnowing life is so much more difficult. You are not alone in worrying about not being able to tell which is which. I know for a fact that I’ve thrown away important grains as well.
Keep winnowing, my friend. 
June 22nd, 2009 at 11:53 pm
I really like that poem. It describes an ordinary, every-day activity in a very rhythmic, visual way.
June 24th, 2009 at 9:47 am
would the children of today say the same thing in the future, that they missed the past and how simple life was… hmmm
I seldom see winnowing even in the province (bulacan) .. most of the rice fields are already gone and being converted to subdivisions…
Hello po
June 25th, 2009 at 7:11 pm
I guess I didn’t click on the “submit content” the last time I left a message here. i just wanted to say that this is a very touching poem. Reminiscing the time you saw your grandma winnowing.
I too, had a lola who did the same thing. We used to get our rice from our relatives from San Miguel, Bulacan fresh from the mills (tama ba?). Then, at home, my lola winnowed the rice before cooking it.
Z
June 25th, 2009 at 10:49 pm
HI DAVID: First, let me welcome you to Penorama. And thank you for your kind words? Indeed it was just what this was originally, an ode to my grandma and a reminiscing of our life back when I was much younger. Just a life I once lived which, for some reason, stirs a lot in my grown-up self.
HI VHINCENT! Musta na? You asked a very good question, which I’m afraid, gets a sad answer. The changes we have had in the past years have dramatically erased in the present children’s consciousness the experiences we’ve had as children. I just hope that when they grow up, they’d find a lot of their experiences now that would bring happy tears to their eyes whenever they reminisce.
The fact that the present children’s experiences are less rural that my family mde it a rule not to buy my nephews the toys and things they could create themselves or with grownups, like toy trucks made of milk cans, kites, etc.
June 25th, 2009 at 10:54 pm
HI ZORLONE: Thank you for coming over here. Been to your blog and I liked the things I’ve read there. I’d definitely come back and read some more. And hey, thank you for the nice words.
Yes, I think. Hehehe. It’s so amazing we can relate to this simple experience we’ve had when we were kids. The memory of it still brings smile to my lips.
July 4th, 2009 at 12:43 am
Winnowing–one of the skills that I am proud to say na alam kong gawin. Laking bukid, laking probinsiya. Sarap mag-reminisce.
November 30th, 2009 at 12:14 pm
Salve: Indeed my friend. Ako din!