Satur Sulit
August 21, 2007
twenty-four years
since the gundown
a coward’s doing
begets a hero.
we imagine a hero
against all odds
facing a dreaded enemy
and dying or prevailing
in the instance.
but there on the tarmac
that sunday noon
the enemy was invisible
is unnamed even now
the one who could not face him
who wanted him dead.
ninoy knew it
knew his enemies that way
he said if they wanted to
it wouldn’t take long
twenty seconds max
and it was.
he went to a not unscheduled death
not to slay but to expose
the heart of his enemy.
ninoy did not rush into battle
he knelt to his death
to free us
and freed us
from an enemy
unnamed even now.