: Isang Dipang Langit - Amado Hernandez( under the Republic)

An Arm's Length Piece of the Sky
An Arm's Length Piece of the Sky I am held by an evil leader seeking to cage my thoughts, a body weak, he says, is surrender, emotions suppressed, advocacy hindered. I am kept in a cruel place: rock, steel, bullets, ferocious guards; isolated from the world alive, treated as dead. From the little window, my sole consolation is an arm's length piece of the sky, full of tears, a paltry handkerchip to dress a wounded heart, flag of my misfortune. Sharp as lightning are the guards' eyes, at the gates, with keys, no one can go near; the scream from a nearby cell resembles a cave animal's howl. Days pass like a chain dragged along by bloody feet, the nights are a blanket of sorrow in the coffin-like realm of the jail. Sometimes, quiet footsteps pass, with a line ofrattling, clinking chains; to the pale sun momentarily exposed, a thousand shadows escape. Sometimes, the night is awakened by an alarm - an escapee! - gunfire! sometimes the old bell cries, at the execution den, someone lies dying. And this is my only world now- the prison house, a graveyard of the living; ten, twenty, and all of my years my whole life will be here. But a resolute mind knows not fear nor agony and hope still springs in my heart: imprisonment is part of the struggle, jail, the fate of the embattled. Man and God do not sleep the unfortunate won't stay oppressed, tyranny has a price to pay, while a Bastille exists, people will resist. And tomorrow, in this very place, I will see an arm's length piece of the sky with no more tears, the golden sun of victory will shine...  free, freedom I'll embrace!  Muntinlupa Prison April 22, 1952

RE: Isang Dipang Langit - Amado Hernandez
Hernandez was a journalist and labor organizer who  led the biggest labor strike to hit Manila in 1947 and  another massive one in 1948. The Philippine military started a crackdown against the  communist movement in 1950. Hernandez was arrested  on the suspicion that he was one of the leaders. He was  imprisoned for 5 years. It was in jail that he would write his most notable  works, Isang Dipang Langit (An Arm's Length Piece of the Sky),  and the novels Luha ng Buwaya (Tears of the Crocodile)  and portions of Ibong Mandaragit (Bird of Prey). http://www.activeboard.com/forum.spark?aBID=117200&p=3&topicID=14534548