By RICHARD R. GAPPI
Bulatlat.com 

As I saw you planting a kiss on a soldier’s cheek

your son joining the plank of anti-riot policemen

a twig of some sort grew out of the scene

reaching out to me.

I heard a melodic song tugging at my heart

like words from your mouth whispering. 

What is it in you, your kiss?

These lips turned pale by starvation, by abuses

Aren’t those the lips that cradle a baby to sleep

to forgo his evening meal, to ease his hunger pains?

But now those lips have become a window

the world sees through

and feel the fire in Cairo. 

Now those lips are calling

for a new breed of species

for the land of Egypt to sprout

a brand new laurel in its forest. 

A faraway kiss from your lips

reaching out to me

like I’m in Egypt from somewhere. 

(Translation/Adaptation by Angelo Ancheta
February 1, 2011)

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