NaPoWriMo#20: Highway

Highway
By Justine C. Tajonera

I take over the driving after our stop
at the gas station. I squander my attention
on trucks and buses that overtake on clearly
marked "no trucks/ buses" lanes. Then,
emerging from a claustrophobic drive beneath
the Skyway overpass and two trucks on both
sides of the car, I see a curl of seaweed flash
by the window. For a moment, the highway is
underwater. I can almost smell the salt from
the ocean. It is an elusive moment, quickly gone,
Southern Luzon and Manila submerged.
By the time I've taken us to the EDSA Cubao lane
I am back in traffic-ridden reality, mindful now
of water, weather, wakefulness.

EDSA 1986

by Justine C. Tajonera

"Lo, all our pomp of yesterday
Is one with Nineveh and Tyre!
Judge of the Nations, spare us yet,
Lest we forget--lest we forget!"

 - Rudyard Kipling, Recessional

1986 was the year my youngest
brother was born.
1986 was the year I was in
fifth grade.
1986 was the year
that a dictatorship ended.
1986 was the year
I witnessed a miracle
of nationhood.

There was a silence
in the streets of Cebu
when we listened to the
radio and heard of tanks
forging through EDSA
and the people
who met them
with flowers
in their hands.

On that day, the opposition's
presidential candidate,
the widow of
a slain hero,
was praying with
the Carmelite
nuns
in our city.

We were at home
praying the rosary,
wondering incredulously
at what had
transpired
so far.

Then there was
a miracle.
No blood
was shed
and the dictator
and his family
flew off
in a helicopter
headed to
Hawaii.

A surge of triumph
wove its way
through the
city.
We joined the people
on the streets
dancing, shouting,
waving yellow
ribbons
in the air.

Rich and poor,
young and old
converged
with relief and a
palpable sense
of unity.

I write this
lest I
forget.

I write this for
you.
One day,
this will be a dry
lesson
in history.
But let me tell you
as if it happened
only
yesterday.

It was possible.
And it still is.
Lest we forget. 

For the Filipino children
(March 13, 2010)
On the cusp of a new government

Image from http://www.flickr.com/photos/layamaria/3613071550/