TWO POEMS (2)

I

Ipil is harder to bear

without you

A leaf falls beside my hand;

already it is memory

like hours spent together

Grief at parting is like

A tear shed for a leaf,

pain assuaged

by the promise of a new bud

at the tip

but our friendship draws

its sustenance

from the rich soil of people’s war

It will continue to grow

and bear fruit

for the people.

               II

Yesterday I had a talk

with an old man

who had your eyes-

The same laughing squint

hiding a watchfulness

that catches even hints

of rainbows.

He spoke to me of patience

in his voice a whole season...

you have endured

the first minute

of your own dark season-

Ah, I can bear to think of it

only when I can see you smile!-

comrade, dear friend

teach me how not to flinch

through mine.

-  Ma. Lorena Barros  
   Collegian Folio, l975-l976