TWO POEMS ON HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES


On Facebook which is virtually the only (with rare exceptions) place - if it is that- where my very hectic schedule permits me to socialize, I posted my poem His House Was Raided By The Army. I wrote this after listening to a Northeast Indian (who must remain unnamed for security reasons) relate his 1990's experience as a human rights defender and the depressing (Sorry, folks, but I really use this word often.) situation in his homeland Manipur which, I think, mirrors the depressing situation in our own. If we have our Oplan Bantay Laya, his people have the Armed Forces Special Powers Act. The poem was written before the murder on 17 November of Manipur journalist Rishikanta seemingly by state security personnel. The murder serves to justify and exacerbate the anger in my poem.

Poet Alex Munoz (real name: Butch Espere), who is definitely a "brother in the faith" responded with a moving poem which he called Resolution No. 1 (Reply to HIS HOUSE WAS RAIDED BY THE ARMY). After reading it, I felt my soul soften like I was a cloud floating in the atmosphere. Apparently, Alex found my poem depressing (There is that word again!) and it may have driven him to anger. And as he said to me in Facebook, "After reading your poem last night, I wished I could talk to those people and tell them, FIGHT BACK. RECLAIM YOUR LIVES! I guess that was all to it. Because I can't, I tried writing the poem." Whew! Here is a guy who carries the weight of the world on his shoulders. In his poem he says, "This war is not about razing or dying. It's about seizing the higher ground." These lines make my hair stand on end.

The two poems together elicited an impassioned discussion on rights abuse. Fifty (50) comments were generated in less than 48 hours. I uploaded the comments in the Comments Section here and urge readers to pay attention to them as well. I forwarded the poems to the (Northeast) Indian and to other Indian friends because I know they could share our thoughts with their people. Besides, as Alex/Butch said, the poems were written with them in mind.

I posted the poems on my Multiply site, and they were published by Bulatlat but they also deserve a space in this blogsite. It opened in May 2007 as a poetry site until my opinionated self could not resist writing a line or two- OK, long paragraphs at times- about issues. So once again, let us shift to poetry.

His House Was Raided By The Army

Firm he stood on the quaking ground of justice
And obliged the cracked lips of mendacity
To declare the truth grappling to surface
From the prison of hollow, specious rhetoric

Then his house was raided by the army

He halted the arms of death before they fired
At his hapless people who could no longer tell
The face of Life from Death, Hope from Trepidation
A flash of light from his nerve unsettled Darkness

Then his house was raided by the army

He marshaled the strength of weeping women
Their virtues slain in the altar of madness and terror
Carefully, he covered their painful nakedness
With promises of hope he sometimes disbelieved

Then his house was raided by the army

Will his tired people adjourn from digging graves,
Or waiting in vain for the ghosts of the disappeared?
When will the torrent of fresh blood dry on the roads
Paved by courage, blasted by terror, entrenching doom?

While he meanders between despair and hope

Another house will be raided by the army. (12 Nov 08)

Resolution No. 1
(A Reply to HIS HOUSE WAS RAIDED BY THE ARMY)
by ALEX MUNOZ

The winged wind had just whispered
to the trees the invaders are here.
But do not scamper, my dear Melinda.
Hush, the owl would soon sound
the clarion call. See the sky turn pitch
ebony to blind our foes, the vines sway

to seal the glades. This is our forest,
their trap; their Styx, our Ellysian Fields;
the "masa" our gods to keep us immortal.
So be damned no more by false analogies.
Worry not about death or kindred cares.
For this war is not about razing or dying.

It's about seizing the higher ground.
Take these arms as your pillow
when you lay-spread on the rathole.
Hold them close to your bosom
to banish the demons lurking beyond
our trenches. Recast them into harpsichord

for new lays for old minstrels, to make
lovers of us all. Kiss the gasera flames
goodbye, tiger roll to the wooded knoll.
Now, there beneath the evening star
let us discard our right to remain
silent as we, doomed to take the prize,
squeeze the stone in their hearts. (20 Nov 2008)

4 comments:

CHERYL L. DAYTEC said...

Here are COMMENTS posted on FACEBOOK on the poem HIS HOUSE WAS RAIDED BY THE ARMY:

SIMON PABARAS (Indonesia)
at 8:17pm, November 19
Then the Army said: "Apologies for any mistakes i did. And i promise everything's gonna be alright." :)

CHERYL CHYT DAYTEC at 8:20pm November 19
An apology is something. But they don't even do that. That is what I gathered from ***'s story. His story about the rape of one woman really shook me.She was arrested at night by state security forces. The next day she was found dead with multiple gunshot wounds in her chest and she was raped. They said she was escaping. And that was where justice ended.

ALEX MUNOZ at 8:38pm November 19
How did these people sustain their belief in hope? If all they could do now are digging graves and waiting for the ghosts of the disappeared and, in between, meander back and forth along the extreme poles of faith and despair..Do they have a moment of respite to breath some air?

MARY ANN BUSOCAN KROON (Australia) at 8:41pm November 19
Inhumane is the only word that comes to my thought while I read the prejudices these people has suffered trying to fight for their own rights. What a sad collective of thoughts Cheryl, but very powerful only people with strength of loyalty can relate to.

TRIXIE CRUZ ANGELES at 8:45pm November 19
This is so painful...

CHERYL CHYT DAYTEC at 8:47pm November 19
Alex, the situation there is really bad. Even children barely out of infancy consider gunshots normal. And people in a group of five (or less?) are suspected to be acting in a cabal against the State!

But then, aren't we also living in an atmosphere of terror?

CHERYL CHYT DAYTEC at 8:51pm November 19
MaryAnn, inhuman, yes.

Trixie, yes, painful is the simplest word we can use. We can relate because we have had a taste of their world- in our very own.

What happened to Karen and Sherilyn? Some days, I find myself wondering.

TRIXIE CRUZ ANGELES at 8:55pm November 19
I have an article on this I wrote after I interviewed a survivor of Army-sponsored forced disappearance. Will post this week. I felt weak in the knees listening to the guy tell me of the repeated torture that went on for nearly five months in a dirt-floored cell measuring less than four feet by four feet.

CHERYL CHYT DAYTEC at 8:57pm November 19
That person is lucky they kept him alive. Or is he one of the Manalo brothers?

I am thinking of James Balao. November 17 marks the second month of his disappearance. Igorot psychics (seers) say he is being held inside a dungeon and is subjected to torture.

ALEX MUNOZ at 9:00pm November 19
I have three close friends who count among the 800 victims of extra-judicial killings under this regime. And one who disappeared. Things can not get closer than that for anyone who had once broken bread with the dead and the disappeared to say that that's no longer living in an atmosphere of terror. That's living naked in terror.

TRIXIE CRUZ ANGELES at 9:00pm November 19
I'm not sure lucky is the word. He will always be scarred.

ALEX MUNOZ at 9:04pm November 19
I mean its terror which is feeding on us..

CHERYL CHYT DAYTEC at 9:05pm November 19
Yes, Alex, you are right there. I understand the feeling. Someone we had dinner with in November 2006 was killed three days after by the military.

Yes, Trixie, death for some might even be less a scourge.

ALEX MUNOZ at 9:22pm November 19
One of the causes of action mentioned in the impeachment complaint filed against Arroyo - now under deliberation by the House justice committee - is exactly her responsibility in the extra-judicial killings and forced disappearances. That's why three of the complainants are the mothers of Jonas, Karen, and Sherlyn. Think about their agony through all these years and compare it with the worldly cares of the congressmen who will sit in judgment on the sufficiency in substance of the complaint. One of them said in the hearing this morning, "We have talked about this the whole morning...yak..yak..yak..let us decide this now because tomorrow I'm going home".

CHERYL CHYT DAYTEC at 10:27pm November 19
That is the culture of impunity. I cannot get depressed any further any more.

MYRNA H. BUENDIA at 1:33am November 20
Sometimes I wish I had never known about man's brutality to other human beings. But since we know,it would be cowardly and uncaring do nothing
about these atrocities.

Iiyak na lang ba tayo ng iiyak, laluna kung kilala natin ang nawawala? Our hearts break everytime we hear of disappearances. We see the anguish of mothers and we freeze over unanswered prayers. Scenes of tortures invade our dreams and we know we must take a stand. May God guide and bless us!

CHERYL CHYT DAYTEC at 9:38am November 20
Myrna, political fatigue is plaguing the Filipino nation. And too many are too hungry, that their thoughts are overcrowded by worries over where to get their next meal. And that is what hunger has done-it has taken away from us our freedom to say no to a tyrant.

BETH V.BUGTONG at 2:37pm November 20
This is a very sad reality even this time in North East India. Yeah, even rape is used to cripple the people there. Last year, a lady from Assam shared that when the armies rape a woman, in the jungle or in their barracks, they do it with loud music. The cries for help is thus muffled by rock music or any sound so no one would rescue the victim. Just this morning, I received a message from the same lady informing me that she can't go back home until peace and security in her town is restored. Writing their stories is even risky.

JUDE BAGGO at 5:29pm November 20
kilos na bayan,
ngayon na ang panahon,
wakasan ang pasismo, ,
panagutin ang estado,
katarungan para sa lahat ng biktima ng paglabag sa karapatan,
pumanig na bayan

ALEX MUNOZ at 6:21pm November 20
Ma'am Myrna, huwag ka muna seguro magbasa ng mga poem na ganito habang may sakit ka pa. Napi-feel ko nanginginig ka sa galit dahil nag-quake yung facebook. Magpagaling ka muna please.

MYRNA H.BUNDIA at 7:22pm November 20
Nakakalimutan kong may lagnat ako pag naaalala ko ang ganitong mga pangyayari. Bigla akong lumalakas at gusto kong sumigaw.Gusto kong lumaban. Hindi mahalaga ang aking sakit. Walang kuwenta kung ako'y malusog habang ang karamihan ay nagdurusa at naghihirap. Ikaw talaga, Alex, ang galing mong gumawa ng tula.

ALEX MUNOZ at 7:26pm November 20
Naku, kung ganyan ka magsalita, lagot ka kay Gonzalez. Maghanda ka na kaya ng counter-affidavit jan. Magpagawa ka kay Atty. Daytec. Salamat sa papuri.

MYRNA H. BUENDIA at 7:41pm November 20
Ganon din ang observation ko, Cheryl. But that should not be a reason to just accept the situation. Siguro pag hindi na kayang pasanin ng masa ang mga pahirap, babangon din ang bayan, dahil there would be no other choice. Have faith.

CARLOS SANTIAGO at 9:36am November 21
In the realm of grim reality, the victim
of injustice is the victor. his deeds will always remain present in the lives of those he touched. knowing that with the snap of a finger, a life can be lost; isn't the victim of injustice the anointed one? his body and spirit already beyond pain after bearing all the injustices that have come his way, finally ending will be a welcome a respite from it all. but wait, how about his tormentor; the marauding army? every waking day, will always be a dreadful nightmare. his conscience will make sure of that!

CHERYL CHYT DAYTEC at 10:10am November 21
Carlos, tyranny ends for the dead;it will continue to haunt those who live.

MYRNA H. BUENDIA at 10:15am November 21
Problem is, some people have no conscience. Perhaps they have not yet evolved into real humans - they are beasts.

You can't argue, reason with or appeal to the conscience or compassion of beasts.

CHERYL CHYT DAYTEC at 10:38am November 21
Yes, Myrna, that is also a problem. But I am sure that there must be one moment when they will be haunted.

CARLOS SANTIAGO at 10:50am November 21
Being philosphical and realistic at the same time, based on our very own history: tyranny ended rizal's life; but his body of work inspired hope and fired up even more the oppressed and in its wake more deaths.... while freedom remained elusive. yet, truly death will always be haunting to those left behind.. that's human nature.

those who say they have no conscience, are in denial! one can never escape for one's own truths. while in denial- they are beasts!

CHERYL CHYT DAYTEC at 3:14pm November 21
Carlos, that is truly a sound way of looking at it. Beasts while they are in denial and they are not beasts every moment of their lives.

JOCELYN NOE (USA) at 8:44pm November 21
It's so sad, very, very sad. Your house or your village is supposed to be the place where you feel safe-been like that since creation. In order to keep that village safe, an army is formed to protect the villagers...NOT TO RAID THEM. It's like a children being abused by a parent who is supposed to protect them.

Anyway, your poem is powerful again. I did not get it when I first read it. Now I can pretty say, it's what I think it is. Right? Hope so...

CHERYL CHYT DAYTEC at 12:25am November 22
"An army is formed to protect the villagers...NOT TO RAID THEM." Right you are, Mng Juice.

CHERYL L. DAYTEC said...

Here are COMMENTS posted on FACEBOOK on the poem RESOLUTION NO. 1(Reply To HIS HOUSEWAS RAIDED BY THE ARMY)

CHERYL CHYT DAYTEC wrote
at 8:41am on November 20th, 2008
Alex, this is very beautiful and poignant.

I will email it to the people of Northeast India.

MYRNA H. BUENDIA wrote
at 8:43am on November 20th, 2008
You strengthen my resolve...you clarify./..you inspire... thank you.

You strengthen my resolve....you clarify and inspire...thank you..

ARN LOU MUTIA (Richmond, VA) wrote
at 9:44am on November 20th, 2008
captured the moment... just felt the tension.

TRIXIE CRUZ ANGELES wrote
at 10:38am on November 20th, 2008
Galing, Alex, this war is not about razing or dying...

ALEX MUNOZ wrote
at 6:38pm on November 20th, 2008
I owe it to you Cheryl..after reading your poem last night, I wished I could talk to those people and tell them, FIGHT BACK. RECLAIM YOUR LIVES! I guess that was all to it. Because I can't, I tried writing the poem...

CHERYL CHYT DAYTEC wrote
at 6:55pm on November 20th, 2008
And what a response that one is. It is so lyrical and very moving as well. I wish I had your prowess.

ALEX MUNOZ wrote
at 7:02pm on November 20th, 2008
Oh, I drunk a lot of Cobra last night to hit on it..and may be that poem is gonna be the last. But thanks..

CHERYL CHYT DAYTEC wrote
at 7:04pm on November 20th, 2008
Is it OK if I submit it to the Northern Dispatch?

ALEX MUNOZ wrote
at 7:18pm on November 20th, 2008
Please go ahead. It was written with those people out there in my mind, of all things.

I assume Northern Dispatch is in Northern India. Is it?

CHERYL CHYT DAYTEC wrote
at 7:24pm on November 20th, 2008
Hahaha. I emailed it to HR activists in Northern India. But Northern Dispatch is in Northern Philippines. It is our progressive paper in Northern Luzon and is also online.


ALEX MUNOZ wrote
at 7:28pm on November 20th, 2008
Please forgive me for not knowing. But go ahead please.

No..I think I got a copy of ND once. About mining yata ang theme sa isyu na yun pero matagal na yun kaya parang nakalimutan ko n

GERRY ALBERT CORPUZ wrote
at 9:46pm on November 20th, 2008
Alex should write more. This is a nice literary piece. Very vivid yet poetic.

JOEY T. FONTIVEROS wrote
at 10:16pm on November 20th, 2008
I just envy people who can vividly say their piece with an elegant poetic "rendition" of realities...write more...

ALEX MUNOZ wrote
at 7:53am on November 21st, 2008
Thanks Joey. Elegance I reserve that to Trixie and Cheryl, two lawyers whose writings have immensely improved the world of "whereas, wherefore and what else.".. But you too can write...just write more and before you know it, you have it...so let's just write more together.

Anonymous said...

Wow, Ma'am Chyt, another torrent of powerful words from you.

By this time you should compile your poems into another book.

CHERYL L. DAYTEC said...

Hello, Jado. How nice of you to drop by. It was great meeting you again during Sir Rolly's wake, although the occasion was not a happy one.

Do well in your studies and be loyal to the path.

Someday when I have nothing better or more important to do, I will publish. And I will give you an autographed copy. Hahaha.