"Mother, let me die, there's no more sense of living, for I do not belong to humans anymore, I swear; I'm no longer a part of creation, I'm but a stranger... "
Dr Abe V Rotor
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Dr Abe V Rotor
Death of an estero (tributary), the result of unabated pollution and siltation.
Pasig River, Pasay City MM. Photo by Mary Kathleen Manalastas
Pasig River, Pasay City MM. Photo by Mary Kathleen Manalastas
I am dying, Mother, my mother whose womb was
as virgin as the day I was born a rivulet to stream,
estero to a tributary that feeds the mighty sea,
as virgin as the Paradise of Milton's dream.
Mother, let me die - or let me sleep then forever,
for neither can I flow out to sea nor keep in the sun;let me die with garbage and silently sink in the murk,
with foul gases, on thickening sludge, silt and sand.
I hear no songs anymore, Abelardo is long dead;
I see no living garlands, not a bird building nest
among lilies and floating kiapo, among the nilad,
pride of a race, woven into mats for lovely rest.
Ahoy there! Two children are staring at my water
but they can't see what is inside me, I am as black,
but they can't see what is inside me, I am as black,
as a dark night, but oh, how my heart longs for them!
I have lost all things good - even as a mirror I lack.
Mother, let me die, there's no more sense of living,
for I do not belong to humans anymore, I swear;
I'm no longer a part of creation, I'm but a stranger;
but my mother doesn't answer;
my mother doesn't answer.~