Denouement Poem by Jose 'Pepe' Carrascal

Ah yes, my ring, which is identical to yours,
is on my finger no more
since that day the world clouded over us-
when I finally chose to get heavily soaked in the rain
and not to swim in your deceitful water.

Oh so I thought.
For in truth, no identical rings existed!
Not when I accepted the reality that the ring you hold is an illusion-
A ring of rippling water that shows on the surface
but never hit the bottom-
contrary to the one I kept to which I pled surrender for my lifetime.

You swore to all the gods how unfaithful I have been
to choose the comfort of the rain over you.
But you were blinded enough to see
that I chose to stay in the embrace of the rain-
so that I could continue to hide
the mist in my eyes,
the ache of my soul,
wailing for all the burdens I have so much longed to invoke.

But I never gathered enough strength to swim and dive deeper,
so that my pain could sink to the innermost of you,
to the bed of rocks-
where, sarcastically, you were unscathed,
never conquered.

I knew my shoulders shook when I silently released my tears,
but I wouldn’t have a clue how the water rippled
when I threw that ring back to you,
for I have already turned my back-
and the ring might have been resting at the bottom already
when I realized how I wish so much to keep it.

If only the way that led us to this conclusion wasn’t long and hard.
If only I know how to swim
and only if I familiarized with what really lies underneath your surface.

Although we may share the same disturbing emotions,
the fact is,

The pond is detached from me-
as it is to the nature,
as I am to it.


1st draft [unedited]
Makati city
March 6,2007
0950pm