Overlooking the boundary between two cities rests success.
Made of bronze and steel, made by misguided hands;
A tribute to dear Sisyphus—ever climbing, ever falling.

Taller even than Lady Liberty with a fist raised to the sky,
No torch, no tabula ansata, no shackles at the feet—
Yet no less chained to the pedestal, immured and immobile.
A slave to pretension, a never ending game of deceit.

Here, the toiling Filipino stands, poised to inspire,
Blood becoming bronze, tears hardening into bitter steel.
Here, they will weather storms and dazzle at night,
But crumble to a heap when the ground shakes.
When the next paycheck never comes.

And the climb will be orchestrated again and again,
The blindfolds refashioned, the chains refitted.
The puppeteers command behind a spiked veil:
"Hurry. Make us rich.”

-Aryanna Mikaela C. Bengan

(Illustration by Alexandra Lim/FEU Advocate)