Greeting An Old Friend..... Poem by RIC BASTASA

perhaps five years already passed
when i remember him: we were together
in the legal service for a while but
he was assigned in Butuan, while i was
assigned in my own hometown.

he got promoted smoothly while i
struggled at home for some domestic
disputes, until the matter was settled
and i got my promotion finally.

i was so happy with the news and wanted
to tell him about it too, so i called his
number to tell him about it.

I got a response but it went like this:
Hello, this is his wife, he died a month
ago.

i am so sorry for the sad fate of a friend.
And then i knew the reason why i did not get
my promotion as early as he prayed for it.

For sometimes, i remember in one of my
Greek Literature classes: as you are
persistent with your prayer, the gods
may grant your prayer, purposely, to
punish you.