A Song for a Dying River
"Now orphaned from your shed and basin, sluggishly
you retreat to where you were born,
Wishing from among your children a Thoreau or Milton
to keep vigil in the night ‘til dawn."
Painting and Poem by Dr Abe V Rotor
Waig River (Ilocos Norte) in acrylic (24" x 36") on board by AVR, September 11, 2017
Three towns nestle on your basin, cropland on your shed,
Your veins run from mountains high to sea
Throbbing with the seasons generation after generation,
Homeland of the brave, strong, and free.
On your banks were heard legends, songs and verses,
Your bounty, the joy of every fisher.
Your forests catch the clouds and funnel the rain
Filling your streams, oh beautiful river.
Benevolent you’ve always been, you nurtured your children,
Into illustrious sons and daughters,
Birthplace of a city, a university and museum you built,
Living symbols to great leaders.
Would a guardian fall in disgrace and forgetfulness?
Is weaning just primeval obligation?
What is wisdom, the counsel of the sages and old,
Blind to see a spent nest in oblivion?
Now orphaned from your shed and basin, sluggishly
You retreat to where you were born,
Wishing from among your children a Thoreau or Milton
To keep vigil in the night ‘til dawn. ~
Your veins run from mountains high to sea
Throbbing with the seasons generation after generation,
Homeland of the brave, strong, and free.
On your banks were heard legends, songs and verses,
Your bounty, the joy of every fisher.
Your forests catch the clouds and funnel the rain
Filling your streams, oh beautiful river.
Benevolent you’ve always been, you nurtured your children,
Into illustrious sons and daughters,
Birthplace of a city, a university and museum you built,
Living symbols to great leaders.
Would a guardian fall in disgrace and forgetfulness?
Is weaning just primeval obligation?
What is wisdom, the counsel of the sages and old,
Blind to see a spent nest in oblivion?
Now orphaned from your shed and basin, sluggishly
You retreat to where you were born,
Wishing from among your children a Thoreau or Milton
To keep vigil in the night ‘til dawn. ~
Childhood in summer never ends;
like a thing of beauty is a boy forever.
The river a dating place of the feathered,
mating songs pleasant to be heard;
they build their nests in nearby trees,
'til music joins the passing breeze.
Fish, birds, children are one,
with the lilies and the trees,
in the laughter of the brook,
flowing down a cozy nook.
A pair of owl, a pair of parakeet,
but would they ever meet?
At night's end, a new day's start
they bid goodbye then part. ~
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