Premature Rites Poem by Jordan Legaspi

Premature rites

Known to be; hailed the sacred and holy
wisdom of the old, to remind the young
elders’ voice; a way of life for you and me
thus reins of truth, to the heavens hang;

Speak the words –the language of justice
either you’re against the norms but fear
nor ignorance, bah! In heart you denied peace
dead cannot roam here, less they rot the heir;

Let silence break; expose the trade’s detail
they corrupt them, who serve the high places
by silver or by chair; they persuade still
to die amongst the dead, in their council;

Lot in life –the law of ‘man’; nature is divine,
he and she –the spoiler of the water and wine.




Note:
The poem, ‘Premature rites’ speaks about the play performed maliciously, deviously, deceitfully, by every man and woman inside the senate, court rooms, offices, and even in the altars; to cover up crimes that breed them to their triumph: possession and influence, wealth and authority, fashion and title.

The poem is inspired from Sophocles’s play ‘Antigone’, translated by Robert Fagles and published by the Penguin Classics (1984) with introductions and notes by Bernard Knox.