Sunset in Tagaon, Batalay, Bato, Catanduanes. Photo by Alvin Ravalo
I welcome
This redeeming kind of sunset
In the island
So full of solace
Seen from a footpath of dry grassland
And a patch of ricefield
Illumined by shadows of trees
Under the fading sun.
It’s been an excruciating day
With death and pestilence
Stalking everyone
For 12 weary months.
You have run out of grief
For friends and acquaintances
Dead or dying or recovering
Or waiting for extra bed
In hospital grounds.
Very little is left
Of what used to be
Your bottomless source of kindness
Bled dry by a cruel day.
Tears have become mute
or even useless
Even as an expression of prayer.
I like hanging on
To quiet sunsets in the island
Away from the big city.
When the sun fades
And the dark sets in
You hang on to this sunset
Hoping to reconcile
Grief and deliverance
As we greet
Another month
Hopefully free
From never-ending shades
Of gloom.
On looking at planet Mars on a restless night
Photo from nasa.gov
I like contemplating
The image of Planet Mars
Looking at its eerie surface
Taken by men of science
From Planet Earth.
I imagine strange breeze
Or a hint of air
On the rocky surface.
I imagine landing there
And contemplating
How Planet Earth looks like
From a distance.
Is it cold out there?
Is it virus-free?
Can music and theater thrive there?
I think of Planet Mars
As I watch a dance teacher
Look her ballet studio
For the last time
With the sound of music gone
And images of dancing feet
Replaced by eerie silence
In the rehearsal hall.
Can she actually move
To Planet Mars
And start a dance life
All over again?
Just today
Over 15,000 cases
In a day’s time.
Can we actually fly
To Planet Mars
To escape total annihilation?
I like to hang on
To some possibilities
Of living another life
In another planet
Wondering what’s in there for me.
Planet Earth is too much for us
Late and soon
We are in the middle
Of endless grief
With uncertainties
Eating away
At our equanimity.
Can hope spring eternal
In faraway Mars?
Can deliverance come
From this marvel of science
Called Perseverance?
Once more
I am looking at Planet Mars
And will try to find
The answers.
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