A GUERILLA FIGHTER'S PLEDGE

A GUERILLA FIGHTER’S PLEDGE

- Noni V. Queano/5December2010

(Translated by the author from his original Tagalog poem, “Panata ng Mandirigma”)

After goodbyes are said  or memories forgot,

Loneliness would sometimes come

Suddenly, like a woman in black,

Emerging from the dark forest.

But always the guerilla will dash out to flee,

A twister speeding,

A hurricane blasting the void.

Yet his comrades will not notice

In their silent trek.

The many times spent serving the masses

Would  have been enough to make him forget.

Yesterday was the people’s march

Against the education budget cuts,

To continue to sound the call for justice

For the murdered farmers at the Hacienda,

For the murder of Leonard Co,

To denounce  the plagiarism incident at the Supreme Court,

For the 58 innocent victims of the Ampatuan massacre,

To give support to the impoverished in the kuliglig assault,

And today,  THE HUNGER STRIKE TO DEMAND FREEDOM FOR THE MORONG 43

(Alas, when will the goddamned President ever learn?)

What if the muse leaves?

How will the self measure up

In the face of poverty, injustice, and grief over their dead afflicting the masses?

The guerilla fighter will carry on the struggle

And the poet, always keep eye on

The mountain, forest, and greenfields.