Tabon Cave - Cradle of My Race

                     Tabon Cave - Cradle of My Race

"When my brothers are gone -

would you be the cradle

of my race once more?" - avr

Dr Abe V Rotor

Tabon Cave, Quezon, Palawan.  Photo by the author, 1989

More than your name,

you are my father's home,

and his resting ground;

link of darkness and light,

window to the universe,

source of song and verse,

treasured niche in space,

the cradle of my race.

You weaned my forebears

from flint and fire,

bow and arrow to wheel,

to become hunter and farmer,

tame the sea and land,

the air and space,

build megapolises,

explore the mystery

of creation.

Would you outlive my lust,

my progeny gone stray,

the deadly "mushroom,"

litters of my technology;

would you accept my poor art

of postmodern living,

if I renounce them all

when my brothers are gone -

Would you be the cradle

of my race once more? ~