Anakbanua

i am a child of the sun
i am born of the man-earth
in the heart of Caboloan
the bamboo birth is not my myth

my body is brightly brown
and golden amongst the goldest green
that robes the ancient demesne
of my ancestors
                              and anitos

i am the hunter of stags and wild boars
i am a farmer and a fisher folk
i am a lover and the loved
humbled before the unknown gods

i am the boatman of Sinocalan
i am the guardian of the Hundred Isles
forced to kneel before the Anchored Angel
and bound my soul for its primeval sins

now
            i am risen O risen am i
my knees are blacked and numbed with pain
and my soul yearns for wanton revelry
in the land of my first birth

where it is most green and most sun

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