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.