Thursday, April 29, 2010

IN FLIGHT (Poem 19)

Erle Frayne Argonza y Delago


Here in the Pearl of the Orient
I’ve met you all of Earth’s social types:
Pauper and wealthy merchant
Fisherfolk, peasant and gentry
Countryfolk, villager and highlander
Craftsman, workingman, magnate, banker
Prostitute, gangster and policeman
Bishop, priest, nun, monk, minister and sinner
Pedagogue, manager and white-collar man
Sailor, bus driver and flyboy
Clerk, bartender and pedlar
Soldier and rebel warrior
Politician, publican and rabble rouser
Idiot, artist, athlete, genius.

Luck-struck! I feel like a star!
An opportuned social alchemist ceaselessly immersed
In all social spaces
Transmuted henceforth!

Rendered flexibly immortal to live and lead
In all imaginable shapes and spheres.

I shall fly so soon.
Scattered are your seeds over
Earth’s living zones
You ramparts of the planet.

[Writ. 30 Aug. 1987, Univ. of the Philippines, Quezon City, M.Manila.]

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