Spirit of the Tree

Abe V Rotor

Call the kapre, dwende, tikbalang
to scare or just for fun;
the goddess Maria Makiling,
and Helios, the sun.
I imagine the world without them -
without them around:

Children wouldn't be home before dark;
and dogs at night wouldn't bark?

Why sunflowers always face the sun,
and go to sleep when gone;

trespassers, beware, take the road instead,
unless you hold the labyrinth's thread;

over the hills and valleys thunder rolls
when angry Thor growls,

and mushrooms spontaneously appear
breaking the ground like spear;

phosphorescence fascinates us,
even after the fire has turned to ash;

look up, they’re but one - fireflies and stars,
fireflies are the missing stars;

holiest the altar of nature unspoiled,
where logging was foiled,

where the kapre lives in big trees,
and scares with a sudden breeze;

paddies sigh, bamboos creak and whisper,
unseen - creatures or not – slither.

The world is alive with tales and legends;
untrue yet true, for they are a twin;
and if you pass by a tree, stop and listen
to the spirit that throbs within.~