Red Angel

Red Angel
(for Nic and friends)

Edel Garcellano

They must have hoped
through the months
for a sign from the sky:
in the arabesque of leaves
under their feet,
in the blast of wind
over their heads...

But the gods were merciless!
Their prayers were like stones
Dropping into the abyss ---
and they couldn't eveh hear
the sound of their empty falling!

They would be no miracle?
and their feeble sighs
would resonate
from the secret chambers
of their hearts:
Why do revolutionaries die?

Still, the gods would madly laugh,
as if all should never dare question
the law of the universe...
The morning after,
the slow rain pattered
on ten rooftops.
The weather had been uncertain
the past few weeks.

But one thing
they were damned sure of ---
nature was taking its course.
They had finally read
the writing on the wall
of the universe.

So they dutifully gathered
at his bedside
to let the world know
that Ka Monico Atienza,
red angel,
of their subliminal joys and fears,
lived a just, heroic life
and they would now,
orphans of his presence,
take on the grim task
that he
unwillingly abandoned
for that light
beyond his body's shell,
and they, who would follow
his incandescent destiny,
would salute him
who was truly the miracle itself
for resisting,
for persisting to live
humanly and meaningfully
in this age
of tyrants
and luminous barbarians.