The Plagues Only Solidarity Can Quash Poem by Cheryl L. DaytecYañgot

We gather round
for lies have been sown
on fecund fields of innocence
They will sprout into evergreen trees
If we do not gather

We dared say the sky is blue
They say it is red, the color of blood
It is black, the color of terror
We dared say one and one equal two
They say a million
Give or take a few
To prove their point, they come down to us
With their arrogance printed on that
paper exalting Falsehood

This is the curse
That Truth can quash

We gather round
for the door to seal the cage
of thought is almost complete
We will be trapped inside
If we do not gather

We wondered loudly why the very few abide
in palaces and the rest inside Baguio Oil cans
They say “Choose- destiny or misfortune;
Indolence or hard work”
We dared complain that the innocent suffer,
the guilty are blessed
They say paranoia has been a scourge
since the dawn of civilization
As paranoia fueled barbarism,
it foments rebellion and terrorism
Neutralize the noise of barbarians/rebels
With that paper dignifying Silence

This is the plague
That Freedom can quash

We gather round
for the ink on our death warrant
is about to dry
It will dry
if we do not gather

We dared taunt them for their inability to tell
man or woman from quadruped,
They say biology fundamentals evolved
And how can we forget that immutable law
The lord of the manor has divine license to
shoot at beasts sowing chaos in his estate?
We dared ask why counting bodies on the streets
is a task never done like a woman’s work
They say our calculator is counterfeit or obsolete
We dared demand to see the disappeared
They say we have gone to the wrong information booth
They wave at us the paper that watered down
debauchery in murder, celebrating Death

This is the plague
That Life can quash

We gather round, we gather round
Before we believe
The graves are a lie
or
themes of literary works of fiction

Before we believe
Our thoughts are a figment of our imagination
or
Insanity in a clever disguise

Before we believe
that the broken bones
of our parents
of our siblings
of our children
are of chimpanzees

Before we stop chanting

Justice is not a squatter on earth
deserving eviction
Equity is not a vice
Disparity is not virtue

Before respiration becomes
mere proof of existence
not of animation

Before

Truth will be swallowed by Falsehood
Freedom will be caged in Silence
Life will be buried under Death

Only Solidarity can quash the plagues.

We gather round.

(In the year 2007, the Philippine government passed the Human Security Act, a law widely perceived to quash political dissent. Thailand also passed its own the same year. These actions were in support of the US Bush administration's global war on 'terror.' Sadly, no one could pass a law to stop state terrorism and US' global terrorism.)