Was the killing field, green?

"Greenfields," by The Brothers Four, favorite song of my maternal uncle, Atty. Hermon C. Lagman (http://nameless.org.ph/lagman), labor lawyer, journalist, poet; desaparecido, on record as the first lawyer in the Philippines to suffer enforced disappearance under the Marcos dictatorship in the 70's. Perhaps ironic that, as in the song's lyrics, we "keep on waiting." And that he may have been buried alive in one of those -- and remains there, still.

This coming May, the 40th anniversary of what has been so far a futile search for his remains. Still, our family searches -- in fields green or otherwise.

Atty. Hermon C. Lagman

(Date of Birth: February 12, 1945, Date of Disappearance: May 11, 1977)

From his profile courtesy of Bantayog ng mga Bayani:

He was among the lawyers arrested after the declaration of martial law. He was kept in prison for two months without charges. From detention, he wrote to his mother Cecilia:

“At sunrise today, while standing idly in the morning cold, I saw two sparrows perched together … (They) looked at us human beings here, and I looked at them. They seemed to have more understanding than some men … At noon today, two clients came … They cried .. They will be calling the house for the schedule of their cases … I always dream here of all of you. We have a surfeit of energy for dreams.”

On G.K. Chesterton, Cheese, and Poetry

The article G.K. Chesterton, the clown prince of Catholicism by Evan H. Harrington, published here in Aleteia last Apr 01, 2017, ends with the following quote from the legendary writer and intellectual:

The poets have been mysteriously silent on the subject of cheese.

If that is so, then (as my comment on the article), “(I guess I) should be more proud now that my poem (To Someone Who Along Was Not, lower half of inserted page), published almost 20 years ago (in Philippines Free Press), mentions ‘cheese’ in its very first line:

(Mixed feelings: While I remain grateful to the esteemed magazine, and still proud of the fact that it's my first published poem, I'm now quite embarrassed with this piece of juvenilia.)”

Here’s the complete list of my published poems, with links.

Thanks! :-)