why do Colonials write

filipino writers, bloggers and poets in english, this is for all of us

why do colonials write
in a language not their own

is it but compulsion
to reconquer enslaved souls

or trickery of tongues
desiring the master's scrolls

is it acting out plays
that we were told to be grandiose

or - affiliation
to the master's gourmet choice

is it altruism
that we share this enclave

do we but compensate
for a freedom we don't have

or more to elevate
dissociate us from slaves

perhaps we do amuse
ourselves with our new grace

we acquire mastery
by swearing a different name

professing that ourselves
are apostles of new face

we create the symbols
undoing mistakes years past

suppressing the anguish
of being a conquered land

is this reparation
from guilt of lost of old fights

or do we write because
yes, the war was never gone

in this final bastion
do we consider the words

do we colonials write
and claim this language our own?

copyright (2005) Jardine Davies