DEATH ON THE TARMAC

 (For Ninoy)

Amado L. Picardal

You sprawled on the tarmac

like a dove in flight

that has been nailed to the ground.

They finally stopped you.

   Or so they thought.

The bullet that pierced your skull

     pierced our frigid hearts.

The shot that echoed throughout the archipelago

      continues to reververate

         in our wounded hearts.

No bullet can ever kill a dream.

 It will only break the vessel

 from which the fragrance is released.

 It will only crack the dam

 from which the rising waters

 will break through.

 Ninoy,

   your death has freed us from our fears

  and sparked a fire in our hearts

 that will continue to rage through the night

      until the dawning of the new day.

 You died

  that we may rise.