Between Appari and Jolo



A child is following the dike

with his noble beast

and a load of ricestalks

to bury in the mudcake



A child is harvesting the bounty

of the site in Payatas

as dump trucks piles up more

into the Himalaya of garbage



A child is gathering corals and shells

in the middle of the day

in his eyes are the shadows

and the secrets of the sea



A child is cuddling his fallen comrade

tears and blood littering the sacred ground

another gunshot is fired, softly

the red-blude sun sets in the horizon

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