The night stalked in deafening silence,
And crept through the cold and dim dungeon,
Where a forlorn soul waked until morn,
For a last glimpse of the break of dawn.
Many a great deed he ached to sow,
More truths that he wished others to know,
But now, all to oblivion they stow,
For his life, just like the night must go.
When peeped the radiant prince of day,
Mute witness to a mock jury's play;
Spouse, sisters, mother wept in dismay,
As Pepe, on his bended knees, pray.
To every grieving kin, a keepsake _
A tight embrace to mother that shake ,
Last poem for Trining from lamp to take,
To Josephine, a vow none can break.
He asked to be blessed by each beloved,
Then, with guards on both sides and arms tied,
Walked through the prison door opened wide
Like a mouth of a huge lion that wailed.
Bound to die, yet marched with dignity,
No turning back from doomed destiny;
Time has come and Pepe was ready ,
To yield himself to the Almighty.
In the midst of silence so eerie,
The horrifying death signal pierced ;
Six blood thirsty rifles cracked fiercely,
Their bullets buried in but one breast.
The world stood still in terrible shock,
For a noble man suddenly fell,
The stand of freedom they tried to rock,
Was felled on the land he loved so well.
The sound of gunfire vanished swiftly,
As if frightened, escaped hurriedly;
The grim crime it evaded to see,
Deemed next to Golgotha tragedy.
Like thunder, roared the drums of soldiers,
To drown the scream of the scornful scheme ;
The oppressors' flag swayed in wild cheers,
In concert with the rejoicing friars.
While in the heart of Bagumbayan,
A martyr lay cold and forsaken;
Motherland ,mournful and crestfallen,
Sobbed with tears hidden, grief unspoken.
Christmas bid a sorrowful farewell,
As the gray sky shook her tear-drenched veil
On the mangled body torn like hell,
Mantled with his cherished native soil.
The cross that "Indios" were made to kiss,
Was but a deadly sword in disguise;
And the salvation they preached widely,
Meant death for the hope of liberty.
Should a hero end in Bagumbayan ,_
In a grave trodden by everyone?
To waste have all the blood and tears gone,
If his cause, till now, remains undone.
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