“Hineni, hineni, My Lord”

By Virginia Pasalo

 

LEONARD Cohen, a man I admired for his poetry and music, passed away on the 7^th of November, he was 82. He is known for the genius of his compositions, the meditative quality of his poems, lust and spirituality. For such a great man, death came easy, “He fell. Death was sudden, unexpected and peaceful.” Leonard Cohen was buried on 10 November, in a private ceremony, before his death was publicly announced. It was a quiet, solemn passing, he was ready to face his God, as he declared in one of his very last songs, “Hineni, Hineni”, a Hebrew word meaning, “’Here I am” the words of Abraham to God to indicate his readiness when he was called.

Eight days after, at noon on 18 November 18, 2016, a quiet funeral took place at the Libingan ng mga Bayani (Heroes’ Cemetery).  It was a surreptitious burial for someone who was dead 27 years ago, was crucified and not buried, on account of those he also crucified. His family wanted him there, I am not sure if he wanted to be there. A true God-fearing, God-loving Ilocano would have asked forgiveness for any wrongdoing before death, no matter how small, to be able to come home to God. “Hineni, Hineni”, words he could have uttered before his last breath, and he would have been home.

The Heroes’ Cemetery is not his home. It is not a place of rest. It is a place haunted by a nation’s remembrance, auguring a very long engagement with crucifixion, by a generation eager to exhume the past.

 

High noon

19 November 2016 7:39 a.m.

he has risen
to steal, once again
the night
in broad daylight

the moon was there
and the sun was there
but hid among the passing clouds
a thousand eyes slept

finally, a bed of roses
resting with the tombs
of those who can longer cry

umbrellas open
a shield from the heat
the torch of the mighty
as before

outside, a woman weeps

alone

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