To Raul J. Bonoan, S.J. [1935-1999]
To the left of the chapel fronting the registrar’s
I am warmly greeted by the bust of the late
great president, his head up in royal stance,
one that commanded, in his life, generosity of spirit
so that everyone in my community heard
“to serve Bikol and country” as a tall order,
as towering as the Four Pillars,
beyond which much I have done.
Bronze perhaps, the bust’s broad shoulders
still remind me of one prominent, imposing
civility, who taught diplomacy as byword;
exactness, crime; and rapport, virtue—
verities even I need now
that the man is long gone.
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