A Teaspoon Of Tears

(Poem)

i can’t help myself

from offering you

a teaspoon of tears

when you were embraced

by amarillo and dewy shrub

only a chorus of crickets

bade lamenting goodbye

to your fallen earthen body

which gloriously shed blood

in the long struggle

to advance the sacred cause

of the oppressed masses.

yes, a teaspoon of tears

i can only offer

on your heroic departure

and when i retire

on the bamboo bed

vivid memories of our struggle

will keep coming back

and i’ll search

for a slice of heaven

by peeking through a hole

on the cheeks of a thatched roof

i will paint on the canvass of my mind

the naked beauty

of a society without chains

free from exploitation and oppression

of the ruling class

with breath as sweet-scented

of a newly harvested grains of palay

pounded on a molave-made mortar

of sacred everlasting freedom.

yes, only a teaspoon of tears

my sincere gift on your departure

but always within it

the undying revolting consciousness

of an oppressed race

and the simmering blood

like flowing rivers

meandering in the land of discontent

to awaken the violent west wind

to smash the fortress of misery

in the rotten empire of the exploiters

in the land they made barren

yes, a teaspoon of tears

will soon transform

into beautiful sparkling pearls

of our dream for a just society!

(modified English version by ROGENE A. GONZALES of my ISANG KUTSARITANG LUHA)