Hwag mangarap sa bayan ng mga bastos
Sila na ang maingay sila pa ang ma-angal
Sumingit na sa bakuran mo sila pa ang may riklamo.
Sabihan mo ng karapatan
Hahanapan ka ng paglalabagan
Magsumikap ka ng malinis
Sa buwis ka nanakawan.
Hwag mangarap sa bayan ng mga bastos.
Sila na ang maingay sila pa ang ma-angal
Sumingit na sa bakuran mo sila pa ang may riklamo.
Sabihan mo ng karapatan
Hahanapan ka ng paglalabagan
Magsumikap ka ng malinis
Sa buwis ka nanakawan.
Hwag mangarap sa bayan ng mga bastos.
(30 Nob 2014)
Dito sa bayan ng mga bastos
May mga prinsipyo ring
Pinagmamalaki at
Pinangangahalagahan.
Heto, mga halimbawa,
"Wala akong kapwa".
"Di bale'ng walang dangal basta't makaraos".
"Maging katuwatuwa sa kasinungalingan".
"Ang pagnanakaw ay karapatan".
Iilan lang ito sa napakarami pang iba na
Pinagmamalaki at
Pinangangahalagahan.
Dito sa bayan ng mga bastos.
May mga prinsipyo ring
Pinagmamalaki at
Pinangangahalagahan.
Heto, mga halimbawa,
"Wala akong kapwa".
"Di bale'ng walang dangal basta't makaraos".
"Maging katuwatuwa sa kasinungalingan".
"Ang pagnanakaw ay karapatan".
Iilan lang ito sa napakarami pang iba na
Pinagmamalaki at
Pinangangahalagahan.
Dito sa bayan ng mga bastos.
(2 Dis. 2014)
The wind started a tune
Through the cracks of a wall
And I turned to listen
That perhaps your voice too
Would whisper that you're here.
The rain kept drumming strong
On the iron sheet above my head,
No rhythm there, just banging banging drunk and lost
A thousand snares and slits and stir
As if to say, it's empty now, my home.
(29 Dec. 2014)
The wind started a tune
Through the cracks of a wall
And I turned to listen
That perhaps your voice too
Would whisper that you're here.
The rain kept drumming strong
On the iron sheet above my head,
No rhythm there, just banging banging drunk and lost
A thousand snares and slits and stir
As if to say, it's empty now, my home.
(29 Dec. 2014)
The storm
keeps pounding on the field
I see
nothing but a grey shroud of rain.
In the night
when the beast should asleep be
I stay awake
and alert; the roof’s my only shield.
I keep
memory of all that is of pain
As though it’s
all that’s left of me.
The wind is now
blowing wild
In the distance
the boughs creak and break.
So much time
does anguish need
To find its
comfort at my side.
Shall it
leave me in peace for my sake
As though it
were serious enough indeed?
My bones are
tired from all my mess
My flesh has
weakened from any lust.
No prayer is
on my lips; it’s now painted on the wall.
Still the
unfathomable storm unleashes
Within this helpless
man going fast
Down the abyss
he did not forestall.
(31 Dec.2014)
I find myself in a dark night.
Moonless.
Nothing to be seen.
There lurks the imagined shadow
Of him who will slit my throat
When he sees me asleep.
Bravo, moonless night,
You make each move without trace.
My veins alert
My shoulders upright
And my hand bladed.
Now resumes
What I thought was over.
(31 Dec 2014)
While
the birds chirp machines fly by;
Noise
of engines and of men working
Not
seeing night nor day; they all grind
Aimlessly.
While
the clouds calmly hover bullets fling out;
Tongues
of useless words speak of names
That
mortal soldiers die for
Aimlessly.
Each
does the same to consume and consume
For
one’s indoor dwelling
Seeping
with boredom and anxiety
Aimlessly.
Meanwhile
A
mother and her child
Under
a leaking thatched roof
Still
keep their blessing in their hearts
For
their savior has ventured to become flesh
To
show the face of the Father
And
the folly of living
Aimlessly.
(1 Jan. 2015)
Did
you know that
Memory
is cellular too?
When
the mother left the child at the doorway
To
run so far so bloody far away
She
placed the child’s skin, flesh, entrails
Brain,
legs and arms
At
the mercy of fear to be alone
And
be dismembered from all possible trust.
Did
the mother know that henceforth
Harm
and pain and loneliness
Will
be the growing child’s faithful friends?
Did
she ever wonder why there’s no forever
For
her child whose every joy is never meant hello?
Did
she ever know that every verse from her child’s lips
Will
never be truly uttered without shame?
And
when the mother decided to come home dying
Did
she not know that the doorway’s gone
And
her child’s stretched shadow shall have been cast
In
a gloomy alley she’ll never visit?
Yes,
memory is cellular
As
it is carried by every fiber of a disappearing man.
(1 Jan 2015)
Sa bayan ng mga bastos
Ang salita ay masalimuot
Upang ang dukha’y di makaunawa
At nang sila’y tumugon nang tumugon
Sa mga hangarin ng nakakaunawa.
At bakit di nga naman?
Eh may mga mamamayan
Na di naman daw angkop
Sa hugis ng kayamanan
Kapangyarihan
Karangalan?
Ang mga dukha,
Masyadong marami na daw sila
Dapat bawasan
Upang maginhawaan naman
Ang mga maiiwan.
(3 Enero 2015)
Nagtanong si Manong
“Ano ba ang bastos
At lagi mong panggatong
Sa sigaw mong namamaos?”
“Manong”, ang aking sagot,
“Bastos ang walang galang sa dangal
Ang katuparan sa karapatan ay nilagot
At ang tutok ay sa sariling angal”.
“Ah”, wika ng matanda,
“Tumawid akong lumpo
At ni isa ang pumara,
Nasagi na, ako pa ang ginago”.
Tuloy ang kanyang paglalakad
Papauwi sa tahanang lurayluray
Kamay sa baywang nakaladkad
Ng nagmamanehong nagtago sa laway.
(5 Enero 2015)
Sa bayan ng mga bastos
Pinipili kung sino’ng tao
Nangingibabaw
ang sama’ng loob.
Pamumulitika’y walang paltos
Sari-sari’t panig wari’y sa
totoo
At ang sa kabilang panig ay
itinataob.
Sa bayan ng mga bastos
May akala mo’y kung sino
Malayo naman sa dukkha’t
laging nakasaklob.
Sa sigaw nila’y namamaos
Sa bulong nama’y nagtatago
Inaaming tao rin sila’t may
loob.
(9 Marso 2015)
