Rest, my dear friend <br />For this grief shall too pass <br />As you always say. And now I say <br />This to myself, viewing you now in peace. <br /> <br />1 <br />I have not spoken to you <br />Before you drew your last breath <br />And hung your head. <br />I sat on the sofa, engulfed by grief <br />Looking at the white roses <br />Sitting quietly, like you, <br />Man of few words and <br />Thousand good deeds. <br /> <br />2 <br />You visited me in those hours <br />When my soul was dead <br />And my body thin as reed, <br />With bowls of fish head sinigang, <br />And a spring that flows of gentle words. <br />It will be over, you said, <br />Your arms around my shoulder <br />Like a long lost brother. <br /> <br />3 <br />Co-traveler in this world where dreams <br />Sleep through the shadowed fears <br />Of unrest, rebellions and hopes <br />Shaded by poems, songs and dances, <br />Food that nourished your spirit <br />And hope for your people. <br /> <br />4 <br />You were a wild child of this universe <br />With dreams of poetry, songs and dances <br />Running through your brain <br />Ecstasy of creation and creative thinking: <br />You dreamt of mountains, <br />Hill tribes and their stories. <br />The camera is your eye that sees the world <br />As it speaks, is now silent. <br /> <br />Rest, my dear friend <br />For this grief shall too pass <br />As you always say. And now I say <br />This to myself, viewing you now in peace. <br /> <br />(April 6,2006)<br /><br />Aida Santos<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/grief-10/
