Poppies

By Rolo B. Cena

Hushed Poppies

Dumaguete Star Informer

July 15, 2012

Cebu City, Phils – Dutch post-impressionist Vincent Willem Van Gough died of a gunshot wound.  Investigators believed it was self-inflicted but remained to be a mystery until today because no gun was ever found in the scene of crime.  He was and will be best remembered for his colorful masterpieces especially “Poppies in the Field”.

Lately, Dutch missionary Willem Geertman was murdered in San Fernando.  Police investigators ruled out robbery with homicide; cause-oriented groups claimed extrajudicial killing.  He was and will be best revered for his cause for environmental movements and mission for the famers of Hacienda Luisita.

When Van Gough died in 1890, the post-impressionism movement in Europe wept.  Along with him died the wonderful colors of the canvass: the character imbedded in each stroke of his subject, in each hue of his expression, and in each meaning of his intention.

What purports to remain is the concession Van Gough had for life, which is aptly amplified in all his works:  Concision and grace.  Concision in the sense that his drive to collate all the beauties of the universe into one meaningful piece of canvass deflates the enormous mass of subjects available for his disposal; it demystifies the  mammoth of thoughts into an artwork that speaks of an artist’s prologue to a new dimension.  Grace in the sense that he wanted more strength to probably ease his ailing physique. 

When Geertman died, the cause-oriented groups in the country mourned.  Along with him died the wonderful colors of an ordinary yet purpose-driven life: the character depicted in each stroke of concerns for environment, in the strength unleashed for his worthy cause, and in each meaning for all his moves.

What purports to remain is the concession Geertman had for life, which is appositely magnified in all his works:  Truth and justice.  Truth in the sense that his passion to preserve the environment does not call for rebellion and terrorism; it calls for environmental activism aimed at preserving the dying mother earth and much more, at simply helping those farmers who till these vast lands to produce what we need.

When Geertman died, several other Filipino citizens including concision, grace, truth and justice died:  Concision wants to know the contents of the Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN)  these mentally-derailed legislators, senators and government officials behold to present; Grace needs the help of these spotlight-conscious men that are supposed to be coming from the nasty domestic animal  butchered into a staple called pork in a barrel; Truth proposes to deliver the white papers unearthed from the shelves of those who are deprived of facts; and Justice wants to acquire fairness despite political differences, equity despite wide disparity between the rich and the poor, the favored and the less-privileged, and the lame and the powerful. 

When former President Corazon Aquino signed CARP into law, the objective was to deliver concision at the shortest possible time, grace under ruining pressure, truth amidst culturally rooted lies, and justice amidst disparity.  When Van Gough painted “Poppies in the field,” he never dreamt of making himself a symbol of post-impressionism; when Geertman caused for environment and the famers of Hacienda Luisita, he never projected to be the Gandhi of Luzon.    

And whether or not the poppies grow in the fields of Italy, Holland, Aurora or Tarlac, no demoniac is ever licensed to uproot and exterminate them from mother earth.  Geertman, just like Van Gough, deserves to blissfully live his multi-purpose-driven life with anybody, anywhere, anytime. 

Every one is a poppy; and poppies deserve to bloom to give color and meaning to life!