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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.

Saturday, October 25, 2014

THE GUNS OF OTTAWA


 
THE GUNS OF OTTAWA

 

(In honour of Cpl. Nathan Cirillo, who died standing on guard)

 

Hardly has the crackle of gunfire subsided around the emblem
Of courage, love, faith, and the pyrrhic fall of the young soldier
(Kilt and all, bloodied by jihad mayhem), where he stood guard
To honour his land’s patriots who have laid their precious lives---
When these sudden heroes rushed unerringly to the sight of blood,
Pumped his ebbing heart as one of them chanted: “Hang on, we
Love you; trust us, we love you, your country loves you, God
Loves you”, but he died. The assassin chants: “In bullets we trust.”
 

---Albert B. Casuga
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, Oct. 26, 2014
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