THE PROMISE

Erle Frayne Argonza y Delago


I

Rise up, Man! Rise up!
Your commonwealth’s history had been astride
The cosmic pendulum that had darted
From yon up. Pendulum has reached dead center
And again is rising beyond the dale of time.
The center was lodged betwixt camel and palm tree.

Reckon, reckon that the East calls
‘Twain the valley of time expectant.
Respond shall the camel benignly
And twill change hands with the carabao.

Snail paced is this beast the carabao
And so is your ascent, o! Man!
To the pinnacle of your godly, godly zen.
You shall be god, your being’s made
By you a living clay molded
Millions of times by your own hands.

II

Man! The Light has come forth
In dazzling photons it fused with seawaves
And fluvial ripples. Gracefully had
It landed, guided by a dozen eagles.

Shine brightly shall the Light
Sky beacon that illuminates eagerness
The clear landscape of the Promise.
The Promise has been slumbering in a bed
Of coal and gold: ‘tis coal and gold.

The Light shall burn the coal
To be fed into the waiting furnace
Where the gold shall be molded into one
Magnificent icon as tall as the azure sky.
‘Tis the longed for icon that shall herald
The historic swing to grandeur’s height.

III

Wherefore lies the heart of grandeur?
Wert this not but a dead man’s wish
Long buried in the hovels of the earth?
Wert this not but a sweetened piece
Of bitter gourd: its stinging taste betrays
Its endless senselessness in the world sensical?

Man! This height of grandeur is the state
Indescribable to the wisest among grandfathers
A million generations stretch: ‘tis a million
Times a million times of pure majestic luster
Only but Inner Selves can comprehend.

‘tis the founded form-being of all
Sublime inner selves that have been struggling
In putrescent marshes of history.
This to the grandfathers is mere dream
Induced by the spirit elixirs of Bacchus.

IV

Rise! Rise it shall
High above the hills and valleys
‘Twards the azure firmaments
This majestic commonwealth of yours, o! Man!
For which freedom-in-life is
A concluded spell of benevolent magis.
Reside shall its spirit in people’s bosoms.

Gone shall be the seismic struggles
Alone for bread as if this were the most
Valued diadem atop the zenith of greatness:
The world shall be its own bread
And man, the luminary figure at last
Whose coming was pronounced before
By a trillion bards of eagles and doves.

Rise! Rise it shal
From where corals had made lands
Where sturdy races have eked out living
And slave they were for others;
No more are they slaves but are free cranes
Atop carabaos their benign carriers.

V

What is reality after all o! Man!
For which you have buried yourself
Millions of times in search for its enigmas?
Is it like spiral moving poles a-clashing?
Maybe, but maybe not. Maybe
‘Tis a swarm of flies that swats
Made festive killings by the dozens
And yet aren’t flies but gems.

When upon each gem Light gently touches
It brings forth radiance to all
Corners of the cosmos: it makes bounds
Anon betwixt its grounded state
And the unbrimmed infinite extent
Apast spaces: ‘tis unbrimmed space
And yet spaceless brims.

VI

Man! A promise made a million times
And delivered a million times makes a million
More than its primeval state: ‘ts a grain
Of sand and the universe made one.
The sea has recognized this secret lore
And had sung it lyrically in melodious tunes
That no one cared to listen to

Save for man-slaves on a dozen mountains.
Mushroom-eaters they are who’d sensed
What the real is: the Promise realized overboard
Its primordial state—a giant that wakes up
From zillions of earth revolutions or slumber:
‘Ti a Being stronger than ever that turns rivers
Into founts of gold, cause for merriment
Atop the nature-world the bed of bread.

VII

Happy, o! happy will be
The suns and stars and moons
And winds and waves

Over your final dawning, o! Man!
Even as the day starts on the sixth hour.

Man! You are the sixth estate:
Risen and made one, freed at last
From tsunamis of disintegrating forces.

Behold! No more forlorn are nature and cosmos
The citadels of true life.
And you, Man, finally regained, revived,
Realized as your guardian and maker.


[Writ. 22 July 1991, Cubao, Quezon City, M.Manila]

IN FLIGHT (Poem 43)

Erle Frayne Argonza y Delago

Dwindling verdant environs sadden me.
Will I in flight be rest assured
That tempestuous over-exploitation shall spare
The last remaining flora of endeared Mother Earth?

Our dream of finally containing
The mad urges to fell woods and ravage flora
Is fading like flickering flames of a candle.
‘Twas refurbished as part
Of the bizarre landscape of obscurantism
That has been deviously superimposed
Upon the benign canvass of civility.

O! Green leaves and all the myriad
Colorful flowers in your company
You are all starry jewels before my eyes!
My heart is filled with enjoyment
Over your untarnished affection.
Do you not long for one like me
Who’s almost trapped forever in the cages
Of mortal man’s edifices?

O! Dearest plants, you who make me sober,
Give me solace in times of torment
Add vitality to my being,
Deserve the undying care of all mankind
Even as you kept your pledge to Mother Earth
That you shall nourish all creatures alike.


[Writ. 24 Sept. 1987, Univ. of the Philippines, Quezon City, M.Manila.]

IN FLIGHT (Poem 42)

Erle Frayne Argonza y Delago


In flight
Never shall I neglect the teaching
I’ve learned then as an enthused Thespian:
My acting out of roles in the theatre stage
Is the sublime act of shaping my acting out
Of myriad roles in the world of the here-and-now
Where one confronts multitudes of audiences
The roles I portray as plenty as millions of mushrooms
Spread across the verdant backdrop of the Earth.

For if before the audiences I’d make sense
As one whose message was accepted with clarity
Even as the rhythms and moods
And my own body language enabled the convincing
Then I’m as good as a man of success.

Each time of course that my theatrics
Undercut the audiences’ doubtings
Rendering my message unto exotic food.


[Writ. 23 Sept. 1987, Univ. of the Philippines, Quezon City, M.Manila.]

IN FLIGHT (Poem 39)

Erle Frayne Argonza y Delago


Let me in flight bear the tricky vogue
Of breathing. ‘Tis no plain engulfing of air
Deep into our bag breathers and then breath-out.

Breathe the air of Life!
Don’t ever breathe like one who’ll later walk
Like an intoxicated cockroach dazed.
Don’t ever breathe so un-artfully whence later
You’re cast down as a phlegmatic mammal.

Breathe the substance of Life
That’s when the pumping is gentle
And rubbish air is smoothly expired
And when sweat cast off debris
In strenuous flexing of the muscles.

The mind thereafter is cleansed
As one’s probing make the answers
To myriad questions bend upon the inner screen.

Breathing is a key to many doors
That lead me to my destinations.


[Writ. 19 Sept. 1987, Univ. of the Philippines, Quezon City, M.Manila.]

IN FLIGHT (Poem 38)

Erle Frayne Argonza y Delago


What then, my Wings of Flight?
Will you later lead me back to my cradle land?
Will I be what personage by then?
Will I be a Ceasar who shall bring home
Laurels of triumphant conquests?
Will I be like him who came to be known
Through the fiery pathway of warfare?
Will I end up like him, rewarded thereafter
With the cryptic Brutal slay?

O! Blessed Wings! Times are a-different!
Gone are the grand city-states of antiquity.
And the calling is one when nation-a
Are dying
When conquest cast by battles
Is giving way to empathic friendship
Thru the crucible of peace
When lines that create gulfs
Betwixt peoples are effacing
Paving hence the way for brotherhood.
Will I be then an inversion of Ceasar?

Please aid me in solving the puzzle
That much later I may know deeply.


[Writ. 18 Sept. 1987, Univ. of the Philippines, Quezon City, M.Manila.]

IN FLIGHT (Poem 37)

Erle Frayne Argonza y Delago


In my flight in the morrows
Pen and tongue I’ll muster
And share with fellows eager
To behold the notes of life
Notes of life that elevate
Them to their dreams’ heights at last.

Hopefully the notes I’ll share
Shall register as permanent memoriam
Ne’er as undeciphered letters written
On sea shores that waves soon wash away.

Allow the notes to linger even just
For a time like writings on granite walls
Even if the walls later choose to dishevel.
For the crux of the code is crucial:
That all men are brothers
Who can live together as One benign
Community.


[Writ. 17 Sept. 1987, Univ. of the Philippines, Quezon City, M.Manila.]

IN FLIGHT (Poem 35)

Erle Frayne Argonza y Delago


Let there be a better world
For the multitudinous children of Earth!

Why? That which I cannot count
Are bitter, unfed and undernourished
Un-parented, molested, prostituted, disabled
Forced to do trade at primes of innocence.
Squandered children—is this not Hell itself?

I shall fly soon
Having borne in me
The urge to care for them.

Children of Planet Earth
They who should capture the warm sunshine
Frolic the outdoor spaces with wild abandon
Bless the world with inexhaustible imagination

Propel humanity to go on existing.
All the children of Earth are sublime scions
Of the rich universe.


[Writ. 15 Sept. 1987, Univ. of the Philippines, Quezon City, M.Manila.]

IN FLIGHT (Poem 33)

Erle Frayne Argonza y Delago


Here I am in my living sanctuary
Of higher learning—the dormitory
To reshape my faculties
Here I am

Waiting for the beacon
From the sky
Whence I shall fly.

Here I am
Comforted in a seemingly unending wait
By the native maya and robin
Singing encore their lovely melodies of solace;
By the evergreen leaves of shrubs and trees
Anchored so majestically outside my windows
Soothing like unto a great healer my tired eyes;
By the marvelous tunes of symphonies and renditions
My music box plays from morning till night;
By the cool monsoon breeze that flows gently
Into my room breathing pure air
To my lungs and organs.

Thanks to you all, dearest Comforters!
My Gestalt is ever enabled to grasp the world
As my waiting is equated to
A preparatory groundwork

For noble tasks
‘round the Earth
Soonest these shall commence.


[Writ. 14 Sept. 1987, Univ. of the Philippines, Quezon City, M.Manila.]

IN FLIGHT (Poem 32)

Erle Frayne Argonza y Delago


There seems to be a force so strong
Which has me flowing in its currents:
It is a magnet catching a desire
As mine possesses: that of catching
For the offerings of Eros and Aphrodite
Or better still a gift from Artemis—
A lifetime soul companion whom my heart
May in the forest of jungles of urbanity
Occasion to discover. She the lovely
Apparition who in turn would choose me
As a truly beloved lover.

Heed then!
Heed then!

The call of Love to which I ought
Oblige in flight I’d finally harvest.

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

IN FLIGHT (Poem 30)

Erle Frayne Argonza y Delago


There faraway in the northern lands
Are my sibs, parents, next-of-kins
Spread all over in huge cities
Cities that are like sparkling beads
Of jade from a rosary,
Where they made flights ahead
In quest for milk and honey,
Honey and milk contained
In the lake of bountiness.

There they are waiting! Waiting! Waiting!
There they are praying! Devotionally praying!
Praying that my flight soon commences.

I shall see them soon
I the unexpected caller
Who knocks at noon.


[Writ. 10 Sept. 1987, Univ. of the Philippines, Quezon City, M.Manila.]

IN FLIGHT (Poem 26)

Erle Frayne Argonza y Delago


Paalam!
Women of the Philippine isles!
Paalam!

You are so cherishingly warm.
I sense your warmth
Mirrored in your ever smiling faces.
Your assuring glances alone are sunny rays:
They melt away the ice of weariness
That have gathered in the bodies
Of visiting travelers and warriors.

You have awakened from slumber!
Wakened and strengthened enough to bury
The bottomless pits of injustice where history
Once left you forlorn as
Non-persons.

In flight
I’ll always remember what
You’ve counseled me:
Through you I will discover
The Woman gender of the world
Your awakenings have this me told

That every endeavored dream in the universe
Is markedly possible.


[Writ. 05 Sept. 1987, Univ. of the Philippines, Quezon City, M.Manila.]

IN FLIGHT (Poem 25)

Erle Frayne Argonza y Delago


In locational spaces where audiences are focally
Packed as they watch live or video theatrics
I always pass by the peripheries
Unnoticed.

I am not wont to be a source
Of annoyance in such environs.
I am not.

I leave the place unescorted
With nary a departure message.

I shall in like vein taxi off toward
The azure sky without having
An orgiastic party of bienvenido crowd.

I need not capture attention to be
Noticed.


[Writ. 02 Sept. 1987, Univ. of the Philippines, Quezon City, M.Manila.]

IN FLIGHT (Poem 24)

Erle Frayne Argonza y Delago


O! Streets of my urban den
I will leave you soon!

Dearest Streets we are the finest of bedfellows!
You who were made from
Asphalt Concrete Dirt Mud

Are the true historic pavement
That took care of tired feet
Of my brethren and sisters
We multitudes whose hearts
Were tempered to fight
For sincerest causes

We are creators of a new Parliament:
The Parliament of the Streets
In whose august halls we no longer experience
People’s resentments and aspirations muffled
By the terror batons of false tigers—
Of tyrants and self-deluding messiahs.

Farewell, benign Streets!

[Writ. 02 Sept. 1987, Univ. of the Philippines, Quezon City, M.Manila.]

IN FLIGHT (Poem 21)

Erle Frayne Argonza y Delago

Farewell, kinsmen and women!

O! Sanguinal roots thou art as many

As the leaves clustered in the guava tree

Renowned are you who helped me

Sculpture my character.


I do obtain that your genetic founts

Are kaleidoscopic:

Malayan

Chinese

European

Northern ethnicities

Southern tribes

Rich gentry

Humble publicans

Moralists

Sinners.


I behold you all in wonderment.

Even as I fly my memories of you

Are more than those treasures

Deposited in bullion banks

Thou art my cargo of treasures.



[Writ. 01 Sept. 1987, Univ. of the Philippines, Quezon City, M.Manila.]

IN FLIGHT(Poem 8)

Erle Frayne Argonza y Delago


I’ve been nestled in the branches
Of the pliant Bamboo.

I shall fly soon
To nestle upon

Redwoods
Cedars
Pines
Sequoias
Mapples
Cherries
African bushes.

Even as
My world view
Never loses touch
Of my other nest—

The Coconut that embellishes verdance
Upon the benign Tropics
Never thus fledgeling
In its noble task to nourish

As it was suckled
By Mother Earth.


[Writ. 23 Aug. 1987, Univ. of the Philippines, Quezon City, M.Manila.]

IN फ्लिघ्त (Poem 6)

Erle Frayne Argonza y Delago

I shall cross the oceans soon.

I shall bear the basking

Powers of the rain and moisture

Along the cruise

My inner self

Shall be cleansed.

I shall soar high to catch

The warm photons of the Sun

I shall then be assured

Of bright tomorrows.

My spirit will be endowed with boon

As I cross the oceans soon!

As I

Shall cross the oceans,

Cross the oceans

Soon! I

Shall!

[Writ. 22 Aug. 1987, Univ. of the Philippines, Quezon City, M.Manila.]

IN FLIGHT (Poem 5)

Erle Frayne Argonza y Delago


Today the world pulsates
With the vibrance
Of a new epoch birthing

A fresh history
Phantom of delight
In all its similitudes!

Even then the Evils grow
They seek to make dirt
To all signs of human grandeur
Evils whose satiation ends not
Till all men and women
Are slaughtered by

The Bomb!
The Bomb!

Let me make haste
That my eyes
And whole person
May sense the vibrating new world
That is struggling to surface
From its mother’s womb.

[Writ. 22 Aug. 1987, Univ. of the Philippines, Quezon City, M.Manila.]