Silence of the Bells

Abe V Rotor

Living with Nature - School on Blog Decapitated belfry. Bacarra, Ilocos Norte

Old Spanish belfry, Magsingal, Ilocos Sur

I heard the masts of the galleons in the wind,
the thunder of guns and clash of the sword;
I heard the words of kings and that of God,
the promise of the other side of the world.

Bells, bells, bells, proclaiming triumph
of foreign masters over natives their slaves;
I heard the shots that felled great souls
liberating fellowmen from their enclaves.

I heard tongues of knowledge, of spiruality,
but tied to ideals and submission;
I heard footsteps departing and coming,
in the promise of a new nation.

A century passed, the world now a village,
people by whisper understand each other;
And the belfry once proud is but a ruin
with the silence of the bells forever. ~