Departed.... Poem by RIC BASTASA

ONE day i told my
wife that the dead are
dead and had nothing
to do with the living
anymore,

and then i got sick
feeling cold and trembling
and could not think
that clearly anymore

i wentto the doctor
and i got hospitalised
for three days and
was diagnose with nothing

my wife prayed and
she went to the barrio soothsayer
who said that
i am being visited by the
spirit of the departed

my dead father missed me
a lot
and every afternoon his soul
comes to embrace me
she said

and thus i feel cold and
trembling and she says
that i must offer prayers
for him
visit him in his grave
and light three candles
for him

on that very afternoon
after the visit of the
departed
i got well again.

we are still linked
to the dead
and they still watch
over us
and they still embrace
us
with all their loneliness.