Suddenly, Last Summer

In “Suddenly, Last Summer”, I lament the curtailed freedom we as children experienced because of our parents’ protectiveness and fear of weaning us off into the world.

In fact, it was our siblings—our own brothers and sisters, our guardians—the IATF personnel who quarantined us in those days, as it were. It was our own folks who first locked us down, who told us to “stay home” so we would be protected from we-didn’t-really-know-who.

A year after the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) called for literary works centered on the theme of travel or “Lakbay”, they published this piece on how a child is constantly being told to just stay home and not join his (or her) siblings’ “adventure” in their village.

Lamenting the sadness (but really celebrating the joy) of childhood, this rawitdawit (Bikol poem) makes clear that probably no ‘lockdown’ can stifle a child’s imagination from “traveling” or soaring high; that nothing can stop children from exploring any space made available to them—from giving it sense and meaning.

Thank you, CCP.


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