by Richard R. Gappi
As I saw you planting a kiss on a soldier’s cheek
your son joining the plank of anti-riot policemen
a twig of some sort grew out of the scene
reaching out to me.
I heard a melodic song tugging at my heart
like words from your mouth whispering.
What is it in you, your kiss?
These lips turned pale by starvation, by abuses
Aren’t those the lips that cradle a baby to sleep
to forgo his evening meal, to ease his hunger pains?
But now those lips have become a window
the world sees through
and feel the fire in Cairo.
Now those lips are calling
for a new breed of species
for the land of Egypt to sprout
a brand new laurel in its forest.
A faraway kiss from your lips
reaching out to me
like I’m in Egypt from somewhere.
(Translation/Adaptation by Angelo Ancheta
February 1, 2011)
As I saw you planting a kiss on a soldier’s cheek
your son joining the plank of anti-riot policemen
a twig of some sort grew out of the scene
reaching out to me.
I heard a melodic song tugging at my heart
like words from your mouth whispering.
What is it in you, your kiss?
These lips turned pale by starvation, by abuses
Aren’t those the lips that cradle a baby to sleep
to forgo his evening meal, to ease his hunger pains?
But now those lips have become a window
the world sees through
and feel the fire in Cairo.
Now those lips are calling
for a new breed of species
for the land of Egypt to sprout
a brand new laurel in its forest.
A faraway kiss from your lips
reaching out to me
like I’m in Egypt from somewhere.
(Translation/Adaptation by Angelo Ancheta
February 1, 2011)
Thank you Richard Gappi for the poem; CNN and MSNBC for the pics above.
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