Versus

BY JERMAINE PE BENITO*
Posted by Bulatlat
POETRY
Vol. VII, No. 15 May 20-26, 2007

Mao said that
“We are advocates of the abolition of war…
We do not want war
But war can only be abolished through war
And in order to get rid of the gun
It is necessary to take up the gun…”

Myth?
Verity?
But as Marx and Engels avowed:
It is a class struggle…
Or what Obi-wan Kenobi said:
An epic battle between two sides of the Force…

It may perhaps be true…
There could be no yin without yang
No white with no black
No right without wrong
No left without right
No peace without war…

Fact of fiction?
Consider this: peace might be the
Other side of war?
War that is struck in between contrasting
Ideas and interest that
Pervade the society and its classes…

Come to think of it…
How on earth can we achieve genuine freedom,
Justice and democracy if we don’t collectively
Fight the ills
That paralyze us right from the start…
And if ever we dare to struggle
It will only be then that tranquility will upsurge…

(Bulatlat.com)

*Jermaine Pe Benito was a former chairperson of the College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP)-Ilocos Sur. He later became a public information officer for Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan or New Patriotic Alliance)-Ilocos. He succumbed to cancer last May 4.