Setting A Love Poem Aside For A While Poem by RIC BASTASA

I set aside a love poem for
a moment
let us all pause in silence
in prayer
for the lamentations of
Bohol.

i gaze in silence for the
the destruction of Baclayon,
the sinking of the bridge,
those tilted houses built
from the savings of the years,
the screams of those who
were shaken
for those who ran away for
safety and found none

i offer my silence for those
who died
and for those who are still
unidentified
i lay my silence to the cracks
of the earth

my silence for the children and mothers
whose screams
sank, faded, and

now cannot be
heard anymore.