IN THESE TIMES THAT TEST US
Alexander Martin Remollino

It is tempting quite to be thankful for this day’s dawning,
even as we should not be so, by any means.

For these times, which test the mettle of men and women,
afford us this unusually rare opportunity
to see –- in all their uncovered ignominy –-
the sunshine patriots and the summer soldiers among us:
they who, like the weeds,
would kiss the soil at the slightest huff of the wind.
It is not difficult in times like these
to recognize the genuine warriors –-
who would stand proud amidst the fiercest storms,
like the narra and the molave,
and refuse to settle for anything less
than the most glorious of triumphs.