dedicated to Manong Joaquin Ligumbres
A Rainbow Beyond Range
by Coy P Ponte
He wore not Polaris on his forehead
Yet his tongue is sure to guide you
Through the vastness of his insights.
Owning not Karyapa’s pen,
He profess the doggerel of the moon
That even fireflies can only drool on.
Sun-baked, his skin bares the mark of ages
Yet his wit and humor reveal a youthful soul.
Stanch and unyielding to the tests of the times,
The stones he piled into garden walls become his body;
And the silvery blonde of his aging hair, divergent
From the weeds he had thrown into the pyre,
Sings praises for the thickness of his palms.
The streets of the plaza call him by his name;
Even memorials exult in his presence!
Beyond sunshine, beyond rain He is a rainbow clear of range –
Earth-bound, yet flying with the wind –
Whose end is in the hearts of whom his life has touched
Where surely, his pot of gold lies open and strewn.
(permission granted by author to share poem and photo below with Balik sa Dagat Bangka Journey 8/15/14
