By SALVI ARMADA
“No uprising fails. Each one is a step in the right direction. In a long march to final victory, every step counts, every individual matters, every organization forms part of the whole.”
– Salud Algabre
I. STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION
reflecting on the self’s subject position
learning tools of class analysis
putting on lens of historical materialism
weaning away from bourgeois ego
remoulding, remoulding, remoulding
on going ceaseless reflexive rectification
finding comfort in rhymes of collective life
ministering caresses on comrade’s hurts
watching sunrise, enjoying sunsets
catching fireflies, gathering stardusts
washing own’s wings on cool moonrains
leading the cell to win the Revolution.
II. CONCHA
they sleuth everywhere but you’re no where
in four directions of the wind
when season of rains come and
when sinigwelas fruits burst forth
they cannot find you in festivals
of mangoes, of seafoods, of muses
lost in the haystack like a needle
sparkingly true yet deadly pointed
they loudly demanded identification
so one-after-another of revolting
slaves rises up: “I am Spartacus!”
for we are the masses of names
“Je suis Charlie” is a deathless name
but in mysterious Holm of Tumandok
names gifted to audacious children
honor her revolution: “I am Concha!”
III. TRUE BEAUTY
it is invisible and unfamiliar,
yet unlimned by the naked eyes
of the impetuous who can’t wait
unconquered by haughty lions
nor subdued by vicious eagles
no maiden’s milk avails bravery to
who struggles with bourgeois self
but at the peak of Panay ranges
after crossing zigzagging rivers
to reach the hideous cliff there
quietly blooms sweetest beautiful
Revolution.
