21ST CENTURY LITERATURE FROM THE PHILIPPINES

READING POEM

THIRD WORLD GEOGRAPHY    by Cirilo F. Bautista (Manila) – National Artist

•A country without miracles

•Sits heavy on the map,

•Thinking of banana trees rotting

•In the sunlight.

•The man who watches over it

•Has commandeered all hopes,

•Placed them in a sack,

•And tied its loose end.

•He goes around carrying it

•On his back.

•When asked what is inside,

•He say, “Just a handful of feathers,

•Just a handful of feathers.”

That’s how light the burden

Of government is in peace time –

Any tyrant can turn it into a metaphor.

You kneel on the parched earth

And pray for rice.

Only the wind

Hears your useless words.

The country without miracles

Tries to get up from the page,

But the bold ink and sharp colors

Hold it down.