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ALBERT B. CASUGA, a Philippine-born writer, lives in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, where he continues to write poetry, fiction, and criticism after his retirement from teaching and serving as an elected member of his region's school board. He was nominated to the Mississauga Arts Council Literary Awards in 2007. A graduate of the Royal and Pontifical University of St. Thomas (now University of Santo Tomas, Manila. Literature and English, magna cum laude), he taught English and Literature (Criticism, Theory, and Creative Writing) at the Philippines' De La Salle University and San Beda College. He has authored books of poetry, short stories, literary theory and criticism. He has won awards for his works in Canada, the U.S.A., and the Philippines. His latest work, A Theory of Echoes and Other Poems was published February 2009 by the University of Santo Tomas Publishing House. His fiction and poetry were published by online literary journals Asia Writes and Coastal Poems recently. He was a Fellow at the 1972 Silliman University Writers Workshop, Philippines. As a journalist, he worked with the United Press International and wrote an art column for the defunct Philippines Herald.

Friday, August 23, 2013

THE IMAM'S PRAYER




THE IMAM'S PRAYER

(For the Syrian Children Killed by Chemical Bombs)

Insha Allah,
 
my dear child, you will leave us pure
with a free heart; you perished in gaols
of hatred, unsated anger crying havoc
on all that must remain in this temple:
it will not crumble though madmen
crush them in the name of Country,
and Allah, in the name of all infants
slaughtered as lambs, innocents
paying ransom for the lost souls
of these jackals of doom, vile butchers
who would rather slit their throats
to shed tainted blood for Great Allah
than intone with the muezzin at dusk:

Allahu Akhbar.                 
Allahu Akhbar.
Allahu Akhbar.

---Albert B. Casuga
August 23, 2013, Mississauga

 


 
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1 comment:

features/rosie said...

Thanks for sharing to us this poem prayer.

May the dead rest with the Lord forever.

August 26, 2013 at 12:30 AM

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