It is a poetic rendition of the on-going epic struggle between Muslims and Christians in the Province of Basilan, Mindanao, Philippines. It is as attempt to dig deep into the roots of this age old conflict.
BASILAN
What is it Abdul that you are fighting for?
Is it a piece of land that you can call your own?
No brother, for it has always been yours even before
Muhammad (pbuh) had even thought of his flight to Medina.
Then what is it Abdul that you are fighting for?
Is it more funds from the central government
Which some say you hadn’t been deprived enough?
No brother, for your practices and your governance
Have been solidly built even before Magellan even thought
Of distant shores with verdant canopies.
What is it Abdul that you are dying for?
Is it national independence through which you may
Decide for yourself the destiny of your race?
No brother, for even the triumvirate of Spain, America and Japan
Failed to capture the spirit of moroland.
Then what is it Abdul that you are dying for?
Is it plain banditry to squeeze some amount from
Lowly church and government employees?
No brother, for Islam is a message of peace and Muslims
Surrender their will to Allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful.
I do not believe Abdul what the media say,
Neither do I take the opinions of religious bigots and fanatics.
Military offensives never solve anything for they only mean
More lives lost to feed the statistics of the casualties of war.
In truth brother I am really at a loss, too pained to view
The carnage, too angered to hear the cacophony of words that
Bring even more deaths and sufferings than bullets and mortars,
Snuffing out lives ‘midst the mindless orgy of a brutal impersonal
War, heedless of what Jesus and Muhammad (pbuh) preached
And died for: the brotherhood of all men.
By: doy acedo
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Comments (1)
- Tugasanan on Jan 19, 2011excellent use of elegant repetition. keep it up!
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