No one else will tell Dad’s stories –
of carabaos fighting,
he, surviving
caught in between locked horns.
… a pot of rice
rolling down the hill,
cooked, caked
rice escaping,
Japanese soldiers laughing,
one life spared,
the tragicomedy
of war.
…trekking up
the mountains of Maasin
with a few worldly goods
and St. Teresa of Avila’s bust
wrapped in a cloth.
No one else will tell Dad’s stories
Unless I do
to a new generation of survivors
in this fighting, divided world.
I have to tell Dad’s stories!
They are Dad’s whispers
of hope.