A Tribute For Nelia Poem by Virgilio Ponciano A. Ocaya

A tribute to Nelia Sancho

There's only
a one letter difference
between doing and dying
"O" and "Y"

Dying is inevitable
Immutable
But what is worth celebrating
Is that as we die
We are doing our best
Within the limits
Of our awareness
With the best interests
Of the next generations
in our hearts and minds

When we live for self
We die with our last breath
Our last thought

When we live for others
Especially the nameless
Our lives linger on
In their breaths
And thoughts
as we imagine
as captains of ships
for calmer seas

Doing
immortality's other name
We begin
to write our own stories
But the rest is not ours to say
Whether this way
Or that
Is history's assignment
To proclaim
Or ignore completely
Or at best whisper
In a footnote

Doing and Dying
"O" and "Y"
For Nelia they don't
stand for Oh, Why?
But
Oh, Yeah!

In the darkest of nights
Let's not be content
With starlight
From few heroes

Let's go for daylight
From many