My Limerick

“The Chieftain and the Toad”

In a faraway village uphill,

Was a chief who did boast of his kill

He said, “Here is my bounty!

Come and share this with me.”

A toad on a platter lay still.

Insights:

Sometimes, people in authority tend to speak louder than their words.

Just like a chieftain who has never actually gone to the forest to hunt prey yet
boasting of the only toad he could slay, politicians who never have run a public
office boast of the little they could show. The cliché “Through the efforts of . .
.” is all they say! A skyway here, a few meters of road there—that is what their
gargantuan budget is all about. They would rather talk the walk than walk the
talk.

“What else is new?” is the favourite punch line of a priest-professor back

in my seminary days. Indeed, his line still rings a bell today. As a people,
however, we Filipinos are known to be resilient. We have proven it, time and
again, that we could rise above insurmountable difficulties if we come together
as one—as the saying goes: “It is not the nothingness that kills, rather it is the
sense of hopelessness.” If we despair, we have given up the fight! We are
already defeated even before we have attempted to stand up and walk again.

Let us not rely too much on our chieftains; they could just be as
inexperienced as we are. Let us instead gather our feet together and start the
long-awaited change within our own selves. A metanoia is what we all need—
the sincerest change of our innermost being. Let us, therefore, change for the
better, aspire for the truest good, and live our lives in the pursuit of that good.
In the end, that will translate to the betterment of our very selves, of our
community, and ultimately of our nation.

This transformation is easier said than done, indeed; but there’s no harm
in trying. It is better to die trying to walk the talk than simply talking the walk.

(I assume ownership of this original work—Elmer J. Mangubat.)