Barangay Dos Poem by RIC BASTASA

another diabetic
guy is dead in this
small town

a street is closed
and a gambling table
is put beside the
road

inside the house
a family mourns

electric lights
around the house are
kept open

the community
sympathizes with prayers
and the usual condolences

my house-help cleans
the street and
quips: he was not a good
man

despite the good that
we have done
that dead man
when he was still alive
said nothing.