Do you ask?
Why are they there?
Where the lowly thatch grass
and neglected cogon abound
and the juice of centuries-old
sugarcane taste bitter, a contrast
to the sweetness we cherished
in the faded memories
of those days youthful
and free - barefoot
we balanced walking
on the paddy dikes
and greenfields. Peace -
silence is deceitful.
Broken then, and again, and again
the promises of wishing stars
in the heavens that grew higher, farther.
Now rust has claimed the chains
and the barbed wires that fence -
Fence that became towering walls:
Prison enclosures of dreams
Answers that could not be found
There’s no hope in sight
In the comfort of the flat plains.
Asking
questions is liberating -
When questions open the floodgates
of critical thoughts and actions . . .
Do you really ask?
if - why are they there?
Ah, not to me, please
not me, not I,
who cannot but wonder
why am I
still here . . .
Apr 28
Apr 28, 2026 at 11:21 PM UTC
Do you ask?
Why are they there?
Where the lowly thatch grass
and neglected cogon abound
and the juice of centuries-old
sugarcane taste bitter, a contrast
to the sweetness we cherished
in the faded memories
of those days youthful
and free - barefoot
we balanced walking
on the paddy dikes
and greenfields. Peace -
silence is deceitful.
Broken then, and again, and again
the promises of wishing stars
in the heavens that grew higher, farther.
Now rust has claimed the chains
and the barbed wires that fence -
Fence that became towering walls:
Prison enclosures of dreams
Answers that could not be found
There’s no hope in sight
In the comfort of the flat plains.
Asking
questions is liberating -
When questions open the floodgates
of critical thoughts and actions . . .
Do you really ask?
if - why are they there?
Ah, not to me, please
not me, not I,
who cannot but wonder
why am I
still here . . .
An attempt to translate my poem in Tagalog "Bakit sila naroon?" into English
Request permission to use this poem