By Ella Meriel C. Merin

The familiar breeze of dancing leaves welcomes me back
but the ghost of the brawl still haunts my senses,
It seems the dawn of fighting is not over yet,
I can still remember the bizarre event that night.

We heard gun fires when the poachers attacked,
Our future become uncertain as we ran faster,
We desired to see the sunrise tomorrow
but humans were ferocious; I’m the only one left.

I thought we were protected but we got trapped instead,
They took our only place—the vast land of greens,
We become outnumbered due to greed,
We were the victims of their intentions.

Bright colored papers scream louder than conscience,
Pretentious advocacies silently killed my brethren,
Commercial developments were part of a villainous scheme,
We were the troops who got defeated in our homeland.

The way a beam of light touches the ground is nostalgic,
Memories of tamaraws lingered around the trees and leaves,
I remember vividly the fear of being alone in this place no longer safe,
No amount of value can replace the lives of my brothers.

(Illustration by Mary Vel Custodio)