I am here now
Amidst the ashes;
Away from the world's mystification.

Do not weep for me now
Remember my sacrifices;
My love, my life for the nation.

They reckon they've won now
They laugh, they celebrate-
Sad! they do not grasp the ramification.

Mother have lost her child now
Holding a grave ache in her heart.
And me- a fallen father for my girl and son!

Will I be avenged now!
Or end up like a long lost memory
Of honor and love for my country?

Will I be avenged!
Or end up as a tool in the game of politics
Between vultures clutching on the opportunity?

I remember vividly for many years
We were enamored with each other
The promises we made seem real I thought
Hearts and letters were existent

God has bestowed us with such blessings
Two little angels His ultimate gifts
You were my life, my world, my everything
A wonderful man to me and our children

I didn't know what happened next
One day you said that you were home
But I saw you then with other girl
You kissed her lips, you held her close

I was afraid to ask the truth
I became blind to your deception
Tears rolled down my cheeks
A bleeding heart I needed to keep

My agony was building up
I have forgotten how it is to love
I felt so down, alone and empty
You crushed my soul, you made me crippled

I remained still a loving wife
Despite this heavy pouring rain
I tried to forget the agony and misery
I live for love, I breathe for it

I tried so hard to win you back
I gave my all, the love in me you cannot see
But then I saw you one time again
With the same girl, I died in pain

I let the tears fall down so quick
I knew your love has reached its end
The look in your eyes I can't forget
You said GOODBYE, I was in grief

I know my love is now forgotten
My hopes are ceased, my dreams are shattered
But though your betrayal cut me so deep
Your love's sweet memory, I'll forever cherish

You will not
Cut out my tongue
Until you bury my corpse.

I shall be,
And speak, in freedom,
And shall owe no explanation.

If it comes
To strength and iron,
I'll fall like my ancestors,

Dying in the name of what's right.

Hers

He was hers
was
in the past.
Nevertheless still,
He is imprisoned by the agony erstwhile
is
now.
Oh how ardous it must have been!
to him
to her
To love him in the days to come
Foreseeing that she can't be in his heart
no matter how hard she tries
Because of her in his
So, until when?
Martyr she is!
He can't never be hers
Because He was hers
Even before time,
Today,
And by and by.

Ang kwento ng isang Pag-Ibig
Minsan masaya at minsan malupit
Minsan masaya pag kasama mo  siya
Minsan malupit kasi mayron siyang iba,

Ang sinabi niya sa iyo, mahal ka niya
Yung kabila naman, mahal rin daw niya
Ikaw naman itong si super tanga,
Nalaman mo na nga,  nagbubulag-bulagan pa...

"Mahal kita" ibinulong niya sayo,
Kinilig ka naman, bati na agad kayo
Niloko ka niya, sabay iiyak iyak ka,
Sino itong bobong nagpapaniwala sa kanya...

Nakipagkita siya sayo,
Nagsorry, nagmakaawa at muling nangangako,
Pagtalikod mo tumawa bigla etong si demonyo,
Napaikot ka muli, yun pala walang nagbago...

Nabalitaan mo ang buong katotohanan,
Heto ka, umiiyak at muling nangangatwiran,
Kesyo mahal mo siya kaya di mo maiwan,
Kahit yung mga tao sa paligid mo nagtatawanan.

Kaya para sayo ito aking matalik na kaibigan,
Sana matauhan kana sa iyong kamartiran...
Yang sabi **** mahal mo, di siya kawalan,
May mas hihigit pa jan, yan ang dapat **** tandaan!

©2017 John Vincent Obiena. All rights reserved.

Please consider me ‘has been gone.’
Corpse; with rifle but no head…
Martyrdom…
Sacrificed for the freedom
And the calmness of all souls..

Think of me as a hero
Slaying sick dogs that are dead
Since the moment they did join
The black pack of blood and hate

Think of me as a mountain
Fending the dark waves and rains
Madly swallowing the plains
Filling our souls with pain

Think of yourself as widow
But a widow who wears white
Since the moon has quit the night
Kneeling in front grace and might
Of your patience, sacrifice…

*My lady...

The deaf blacksmith
Rendered in silent iron the wagon wheels
that they now walked behind
with ever larger ruts
that would eventually hold the whole village.
It’s the shabbes of comfort
When “the rugged shall be made level,
And the rough places a plain;….and all flesh shall see it together….”
He never heard the one that hit him
Hearing wouldn’t have helped they say,
“all the flesh shall see it together”
And all did that hot day, thick with mosquitoes and flies
And a pestilence of lead.
The winds blow through the fallow fields
Tearing at the roots of the waving grass
Though grass is stronger than the winds that whip it
And the many blades hold firm defiantly
We shall not be moved again!
*“all flesh is grass
And all the goodliness thereof is
As the flower of the field;
The grass withereth, the flower fadeth;
Because the breath of the Lord bloweth upon it---
Surely the people is grass.”

Baby girl, you have to know when to stop.
Love yourself enough to know when to let go.
It isn't very wise to hold on to something that's not there anymore.
The world has no place for people who give themselves too much, people who pour themselves out to a point that they end up with nothing but bruises.

I should know; I have been there.
Though I am not proud of having been - but I'm here now and I survived.
If I did it, you can too. You got this.
You can turn this around - for I know you are strong.

And by the time you finally decide to let go of the shackles that bind you from him, cry.
Cry your heart out and scream if you must.
Do everything you think you should just to ease the pain.
Write thousands of poems just to make sense of that heartbreak, because it's going to be a while before you feel okay again.

But at the end of the day, don't worry.
I will help you get through this.
I got you.