Sampaguita Garland

A little girl threads her way
To create a beautiful garland
From little Philippine jasmines…

Sells it to a plump lady for fifty
The lady smiling, receipts it for sixty
Hence, a corruption of ten.

The town mayor arrives
On his brand-new Montero
The people are in awe.

The plump lady shakes hand
Then puts the garland
Round upon his neck.

He delivers a speech
But all that little girl
Understood was “I”.

For more than twenty times
He repeats the word
And smiles proudly.

When he walks off the stage
He removes the garland
And throws it into the trash.

While the little girl watches
And wonders in her mind
How he could do it so easy.

She ponders for a bit
If this is how he treats
The dreams she has.

-A little poem to commemorate Philippine Independence Day.