Your Voice

We part ways down the stretch of Liberation Road.*

You traced the path that leads to “SanAg”¹

While I ventured the highways of the city and into the countryside

Where I journeyed nights and days in search

For some fugue² I was hearing faintly

As if by an elfin lady singing inside out of my restless heart

We part ways down the unpaved Liberation Road.

I beat around the bush trying to apprehend Brahms’ Symphony No. 3

While on your keyboard you engaged the masters³ in their Liederkreis⁴

Albeit you confront the worries of your spirit

To experiment on some fantasie⁵ to soothe the angst

Over those Sartrean predicaments out of my weary heart

We are far apart and they have cemented the Liberation Road.

Yet still I hear your voice sweetly singing songs

As if by an elfin lady enchanting Apollo with her rhymes

Soothing indeed it is for the hearers to listen to

Comforting the brood that nestles in your arms

Inspiring the hands to whom your heart finally finds rest.

Ah, your voice.

  

^*A minor thoroughfare in Iloilo City.

¹ University of San Agustin-Iloilo.

² The word 'fugue' comes from the Latin fuga (flight) and fugere (to flee). In music, it is a type of piece written in counterpoint for several independent musical voices. I am using it here however as a metaphor to dramatize the restlessness of one man’s heart in the context of St. Augustine of Hippo.

³Schubert and Schumann.

⁴ A series of songs tied by a single narrative or theme. It denotes consistency.

⁵ A musical composition with its roots in the art of improvisation.