Sunday, February 25, 2018

Lamentation from EJK Land

The bullet-riddled corpses sprawl on the sidewalks,
  the dark alleys or inside the shanties 
  waiting to be laid to rest in public cemeteries
  or dumped in common graves.
  The inconsolable widows & orphans or shocked fathers and mothers 
cannot not afford to bury them
  for the police are making a killing out
  of the killings or mass murder
  ordered by the blood-thirsty ruler from the city of Davao.


The slums beside dumpsites, railways, waterways & cemeteries 
beyond the posh villages & subdivisions
   have become killing fields
  day by day,  night after night
  as the poor wait in fear & trembling
  for the executioners in uniform
  or masked hit-men riding in tandem

  imported from or trained in Davao.

Why do brutal, corrupt & incompetent men
 lord over this land like criminals?
Why do pious men and women who fill the churches Sunday after Sunday
and join processions in masse
or attend the Pope's Mass in millions
keep silent or approve of this and say
those addicts & enemies of the state deserve to die

Where is mercy and compassion
for those wounded by neglect, abuse,
  isolation and loneliness
  in need of healing and conversion?
Where is justice for those unjustly punished
  without due process,
deprived of human rights & dignity
while drug lords go scot-free
just because they are relatives, friends or partners?

O Lord, we believe that you will deliver us
 from evil as you did in times past –
especially at EDSA.
 But how long must we wait?
 How many more lives have to be wasted?
When will the people stand up and rise empowered by your Spirit?
In this dark night we toll the bells
 and light our candles full of despair
and hope.