Ave, Ave, Pater Patrum

(Poem — written when Pope Paul VI or Giovanni Battista Montini visited the Philippines last Nov. 27, 1970 aboard the plane Alitalia)

giovanni battista montini
servus servorum dei
when alitalia’s mouth expectorated you
the plunderers hailed you to high heavens
viva! viva! viva il papa!
hosanna in excelsis
benedictus qui venit
in nomine domini
god the father
god the son
goddess the holy spirit!
forgive thy sinner son
mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa
when thou the holy father passed by
the street of discontent
i was inside the john
sprinkling yellowish holy water
consecrating in my own mass
ave, ave, pater patrum
the urinal gobbled the holy bread
even heartily confessed to the lord.

ave, ave, virgin mary
pray for your sinner son
yes, i did not even see
the crown of the holy father
when he went
to luneta and held mass
i was drinking ginebra
in san da wong’s restaurant in ermita
god the father
god the son
goddess the holy spirit
don’t blind and hoodwink me
with religious images and scapulars
while the candle is a cadaver decomposing
in every candelabrum
though i didn’t kneel to the holy pope
i likewise saw his guardian angel
in the bottle of la tondena
michaelem arcangelum
brandishing his glaring sword
threatening to thrust
the plate of espaghetti piccolino
consecrated by papa ketchup.

ave, ave, pater patrum
am terribly starving
clang-clang, clang-clang
bing-bong, bing-bong
every hour, every day
the church bell rings incessantly
sit laus plena, sit sonora
sit jucunda, sit decora
do the sign of the cross and pray
ave, ave, ave maria
the priest is counting
silver coins in the sacristy
god the father
god the son
goddess the holy spirit
pray for the soul of your sinner son
mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa
i let the trashcan swallow
my rosary, crucifix and missal.

holy pope! holy pope!
rice cake and moon cake
the convent and nuns
are being gnawed by worms
every saint salivates
for a morsel of host
cobwebs are kissing my alley
the shanties and esteros
genuflect to the twinkling
goblets and chandeliers
my plough’s chained in the ricefield
the armalite shoots rebellious tones
in the land of the oppressed
ave, ave, ave maria!
quod in carnem transit panis
et vinum in sanguinem
quod non capis
quod non vides
animosa firmat fides
last night, holy pope
my brain was blazing
and the fireflies dancing
with the musical crescendo of change!

(modified from the original English version by MARK JOSEPH RAFAL of my AVE, AVE PATER PATRUM)

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Uncle Sam

(Poem)

decades have been moss-covered, uncle sam
and yet you are rapaciously lustful
you murdered patrice lumumba in congo
and later imprisoned nelson mandela
so you could fuck africa’s vagina
you mashed the breasts of cuba
so the embers rebelliously flew
from fidel castro’s long vultabajo cigar
the cienfuegos ignited the revolution
even embraced by the argentinian che guevara
they set ablaze the fire of liberty
from sta. clara to havana
they kicked your ass like a stray dog
but you retaliated and shackled cuba
with an inhumane embargo
now known as operation mongoose.
haunted now is latin america
by the souls of simon bolivar
jose marti and other anti-imperialist heroes.
crystal-clear now in my mind, uncle sam
how you beastly raped, and still raping
the inherent beauty of sovereign countries…
that is why in his grave
the soul of vietnam’s ho chi minh
is still turning, pleading
you sucked the blood of korea
now its breast is half-divided
you trampled one saddam hussein
to squeeze dry the new babylon
you perplexed the peace of libya
until you eradicated qaddafi
from the face of the troubled earth
so you could disgustingly suck
the abundant oil from libya’s groin.
uncle sam, what else you still long for?
the pubic area of seychelles, yemen and chad
the nipple of albania, laos and grenada
the vagina of thailand, timor and angola
the mouth of malaysia and lips of indonesia
all these you desire to stroke and cuddle
due to imperialist insatiable lust!
yes, uncle sam, when will this end:
your hunger for other’s flesh
your flaming desire for sexual intercourse?
yes, uncle sam, then and now
you have been ferociously raping
my beloved la tierra pobreza
stripped her naked so many times
and even chained her freedom
you turned into wind-up dolls
the guardia de honor of my country
and used them to hoodwink us
and exploit our nation’s life and survival
my brethren are now skeletons of grief
my future is now as bleak as filth
but, uncle sam… remember this:
not all are “sleeping in the darkness of night”
the bonifacios will gallantly fight back
will heroically brandish their cutlass
to end your pillage
they will snap off, chop off
the shackles in the people’s neck
they will victoriously parade
the ecstasy of radiant freedom!

(modified from the original English version by MARK A. ANGELES of my TIYO SAM)

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