Remembering Randy

I was cleaning my closet when a piece of folded paper fall from one of my old books. I opened the page and it was a poem written by my former UP professor Randy M. Bustamante. He was my teacher in Humanities I during my first ever summer class in college, the year was 2000. During that time this subject is taught in English unlike now that it is taught in Filipino. I miss Sir Randy, he was the one who told me that I can be a good theater actor after I portray Caliban from Shakespearean novel, The Tempest, in our class play presentation. But acting on stage was not my priority then since I'm taking up Business Administration that time. By the way, here is the poem that I want to share with you...

REMEMBERING NOAH


And then God remembered Noah...
Genesis 8:1

Not that God
had forgotten, no:

the violence of man's
forgetfulness churned

the waters of the world
and the ocean above

came rushing down
to meld with the swelling seas,

re-calling the darkness
before the the speaking of light.

The voice of the rain
seeped into the ark,

daring the huddled bodies
re-member tree-limbs

mountain-face, earth-skin,
but the terrible wetness

had blurred their sight.
Then God breathed on everything

(hair and feather, fleece and hide)
and downpour and deluge dried.

The ark beneath benevolent arch
opened to the flapping of wings,

rumble of hooves, wild, grateful joy,
for memory is mercy

and the heart of the remembering God
a vast dry land strewn with iridescence

and lushness, yes, unforgettable lushness.