A Year Without Raul

Perhaps it was a god's way of mourning, Raul
That a year after you departed,
Magayon,
In all her gracefulness and majesty
Wept

As we gazed from her perfect face
Red ruby tears cascading

As we listened from her bosom
Sobs of pealing thunder

As we felt from our feet
Waves of her trembling sadness

We were moved by the divine melancholy
And awed by the mystic perfection

In our heart of hearts
We solemnly pray
A mist of blessedness
Be gracefully bestowed on us
We who wretchedly walk
This parched earth

For a year without you Raul
Evil remained triumphant

We still seethe
In remembering sacred oaths
Pledged on hallowed ground
Easily being disowned, discarded

We still lament
That usurpers remain in power
Engorging themselves with fat of the land
While people die of hunger and neglect

We still grieve
The brave souls who stood up
For truth and justice
Only to be felled
By blood-hungry assassins

We still condemn
The Guardians of the Faith
Who waylaid the flock
When seduced by opulent temple offerings

We rage on

One year without you Raul
We were still bewildered
By that ancient riddle
Which haunted men
Who gazed the heights of heavens
And plunged the depths of their soul
Who traversed unfamiliar landscapes
And waded through ancient papyri

Asking:

Why do good men die
And evil men triumph?

Requiem for Raul

A requiem for you Raul 
A mournful prayer 
Set aloft 
The gossamer wings 
Of a fading Amihan 

Black as spade 
The future forebodes 
Emptiness 
A lull before the storm 

The horizon beckoning thunderclouds 
Pillars of despair 
The balinsasayaw heralding the evil tempest 
In a country where legends and war cries 
Erode from collective memory 
And greatness 
Drain in rivulets 
Like fading bloodstains 
Of fallen warriors 

We cry for solace 
From this constant deluge 
Of wanton wickedness
We wish you were here Raul 
Your presence is Isarog 
Solitary in a plain of green 
Yet lofty and formidable 
Forever sheltering fair Naga 
From the terrible, terrible claws 
Of shredding Habagat 

It will be missed… 

That keen mind of yours 
As sharp as a newly forged Sundang 

That penchant for justice 
Like Magayon’s slopes 
Everything should be equal, proportionate 
That bravura, yes that bravura 
When everyone else cowered 
In the fusillade of lies and deception 
You stood up in the defense of Truth
Like the victors of Tancong Vaca 
You are relentless 
Even though you are outnumbered and outgunned 

Still you will be missed… 

While the halls of Gugurang 
Will rejoice in your presence 
And the heroes of Ibalon: 
Handiong, Baltog, Bantong 
Ola, Vinzons, Escandor 
Will welcome you as brethren
We who are left behind 
Can only wail in despair 

A requiem for you Raul 
A mournful prayer 
Set aloft 
The gossamer wings 
Of a dying Amihan

Dreaming of temperate seasons