214. On Celebrating Death and Defeat

We celebrate our heroes’ martyrdom,
Especially that of Jose Rizal.
We don’t deem it to be inimical
To glorify defeats. So stunned I am.

My viewpoint surely is not whimsical:
This practice is so dumb and so bizarre.
Where did this way of celebrating come?
I truly find it quite irrational!

I guess this practice emanated from
Christ’s passion and his death in Calvary.
But instead of the Fall of Bataan,
Can we not celebrate success in war?
A good example is that of Mactan
When Lapu Lapu scored a victory.

Jose Rizal M. Reyes
November 7, 2007G

rhyming pattern: abba bcab adeced
rhyme scheme model: Frederick Goddard Tuckerman’s Sonnet XXVIII
sonnet format: quatrain, quatrain, sextet (Italian/Sicilian)

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