I Am The River Agno Poem by Ferdinand L Quintos

Under the vast skies, dawn
of now-aging time, I sprang
from the slope of Mt. Data
of the Cordillera mountains,
cared of by the dews and mists,
my light were stars, moon, and sun.

But it is Mother Nature’s
law, in my heart written,
the height of breast I came
from, I can not rise above,
but rather I have to move on,
seek my own destiny.

I set out, sought my way, I crept
through the cracks and crevices
of rocks, pushed through the hard
earth, went down deep canyons,
night and day I did not stop,
I had no sleep or rest.

Along the way I met other’s
like me, big or small they went
with me, born of the same nature,
raised with the same mission
though from distant bosoms,
we united, we became me.

I am the River Agno.

Weariness and sadness
I did not mind, I went
on my own odyssey, up ahead
I saw another one like me, Gulf
of Lingayen, the wind told me.

I flowed toward it, I dived, and
I embraced it. I fathomed its depth,
I searched its vastness, its movements
and character I observed, I learned
much about it, but it doesn’t
know anything about me.

Although how big it is, it
does not know where I came
from, though it has the strength,
it cannot push back my flow,
I can not make it any bigger,
but it can not consume me.

Time and the world is getting
old but I go on living, because
I still get nourishment from
the spring where I came
from, along with the blessed
love of a powerful God.

I am the River Agno.

(The Agno River is the third largest river in Luzon (next to Cagayan River and Pampanga River) and the fifth largest river in the Philippines. It empties into the Gulf of Lingayen in Pangasinan province.)