Ode to the Philippines (A Re-write)
#Philippines#independenceday#arawngkalayaan
Oh, my dearest Philippines, your rich and diverse heritage and culture
has made you the young yet dynamic country that you are today
Manila is your heart, where the iconic Luneta park is located
it’s a hyperactive city, vibrant and vivacious
with its high temperature and high humidity, we get disconnected
your walls are adorned, screaming for freedom and equality
by these colorful graffitis reflective of the youth’s jubilant spirit
as the hope of our motherland, says our national hero; the great Dr. Jose Rizal
I too was once like these youths, yearning for change, simply change
back in the 90’s; a young college student, I thought I was
going to be a lawyer defending the poor and the unfortunate
though a greater part of my youth screams of pen and paper
in Mendiola, I trudge the University belt with a screaming mind
for change, though looking back 25 years after
no slightest idea of how that change may change
and today’s headline reminds me of how we were taught
to write news story straightforward with no running around the bush
nor even a hint of personal grievances
it’s a different story now, as COVID 19 hits the headline
running over to three months
bringing our tally of infected patients to more than twenty thousand
and counting
our economy is in jeopardy, it hits rock bottom recently
our exports of agricultural products have halted
not even our over 200 species of mammals and world’s longest discontinuous coastline
could be a remedy to our dying economy
oh, my dearest Philippines, you survived a hundred years
of Spanish colonization
then followed by the Japanese invasion
not to mention the American occupation
you made it through many wars
great volcanic eruptions
and the greatest typhoons
COVID is just nothing but a speck of something
that will
make you greater, better and grander as ever
dear PH, we will rise again, we will be great again
and together we stand victorious amidst COVID 19.
P.S.
My beloved country, the Philippines is celebrating today its 122 Independence Day.
Independence Day or Araw ng Kasarinlan also Araw ng Kalayaan. An annual national holiday in the Philippines observed on 12 June, commemorating the Philippine Declaration of Independence from Spain on 12 June 1898.
michnavs 