No, this is not about Dennis Cunanan and his ilk. Nor is this about some officials of a certain university. Dying on Mt Olympus Come on, don’t fool us We, mortals, know You are dying You are. Dying You wanted what you have now So much. No, too much You were so short of height In the esteem of the gods On the platform of servility, you stood You were not tall enough still You tiptoed then pushed yourself up Like a serpent, you stretched your body Until your whispers of platitudes Reached the ears of the gods With the tongue of a sycophant You asked to kiss their hands On their doorstep, you shed off Your clothes You whored your way To the inner circles of Mount Olympus You got them- the paper and pen A table and a swivel chair You learned to sign your name In blood. Not yours You walked above the ground One hand holding high a trident Anyone who saw it had to bow Everyone saw it Everyone who did not bow Had to face your Olympian wrath Occasionally, you would dine With the gods and goddesses On Mount Olympus Breathing the air they breathe You thought you became One of them. Immortal. Eternity-bound That was when You started dying You are dying Your feet can no longer take you To the barren ricefields That kept you alive When the pull of death was strong Or the slums which gave you a home When the affluent doors were closed You are blind; you no longer see Shame in the starvation of many Amidst the opulence of a few You are deaf; you hear obedience From the silence of the poor Deaf to the slander and indictment Pronounced by their grumbling hunger You lost your hands; you can no longer Embrace your brothers and sisters Shivering in the cold And what happened to your tongue? You were fluent in justice You coopted its lexicon To mask your evil ways Now, among mortals, you speak Only the language of tyrants Among gods, the language of slaves You lost your mind; you think power Is oppression over submission An elephant over a hapless ant An entitlement of wealth To steal from hunger You lost your heart You sow fear rather than reap love You set foot on Mt Olympus You are now immortal. And You are dying You are. Dying. cc: Ronald Taggaoa, Marie Lee Anne Castro, Elizer Jay Delos Reyes, Noel Canlas, Rose Segundo, Grace Carrido, Gabriel Paul Pinas
Posted on: Sun, 09 Mar 2014 01:44:40 +0000