A wrongdoings of government officials, fought for

A poem elicits thecritical and creative thinking of the readers. The poem, A man falls to hisdeath by Cirilo Bautista, can be interpreted into two things, suicide ormurder. Both of them are different because of their meaning however, theybecome similar and connected in the concept of death. After analyzing andunderstanding the text, I concluded that, the character of the poem committedsuicide.

In his poem, CiriloBautista writes: “ He was, a day ago, threatened/With dismissal for displeasing a superior”(22-23). The character, being lower in rank, got anxious which eventually ledto the thought of committing suicide. In connection to the biography ofBautista and the political context of the poem, Bautista worked for FerdinandMarcos and we’re familiar that the Marcos’ administration marked abloody and controversial period in Philippine history. Why? Because he used hispower to control the lives, innocent lives, of many Filipinos which can be thereason why arts and literature thrived at that time. Filipinos exposed the wrongdoingsof government officials, fought for freedom, and flourished their nationalism byarts and literature.

Untilnow, we still experience many abusive officials in our country. Even ourpresident is given that title since he started executing Extra JudicialKillings in the Philippines. Not to say that raging arguments have called R. Duterte’s administration as the same as F.

Marcos’ administration, a bloody andcontroversial government. In connection to the poem, when someone abuseshis/her power or authority, people around him/her would have a taste of hell. Filipinosmay not commit suicide, but by the mere fact that a displeasing administrationis running right now, it feels like we are already dead.             Anotherquotation from the poem, Cirilo Bautista writes: “ ashadow traced the lines on his foot, while shoot/his brain with firelights themoney did” (7-8). In my opinion, the word “ shadow”, is a metaphor for thecharacter’s mental health (anxiety or depression). It explains that his/hermental health embraced his/her whole being, leading to attempt to die. Then, the word “ firelights”, is also a metaphor for what triggered or sparked him/herto commit suicide which is the threat of the superior.            In addition, I concluded that maybe Bautista wrote thispoem to raise awareness on mental health because in Japan, where he was exposedas a professor, suicide rate is high.

This poem can show a light on the mentalhealth of Filipinos. Through the concept of math, Bautista tried to convey amessage that in reality, when we encounter mentally ill people, we try tounderstand them but we tend to invalidate their feelings and give up on them. It’s the same on what happened when I read the poem, I had a hard timeunderstanding the poem and eventually gave up.             In relation to the journal article, both article and poemdon’t have a clear ending. However, in the poem, it is up to the readers tointerpret the ending while in the article, the ending must be based on facts. Moreover, the poem drives an emotional and figurative track while the article is straightto the factual point.