In Kayapa, Nueva Vizcaya, the bus suffered a mechanical breakdown. It was early in the morning. Dawn was breaking and I could see beautiful fire reaching up to the sky.
I am glad I was able to capture that moment. It was a very compelling sight. As soon as I got to Banaue, I wrote a poem.
None but He can blend and match colors
And paint such consummate splendor
Using the infinite sky above for canvas
Beyond caustic hands spilling malice
As you crawl like fire reaching the sky
My eager pen tries to describe you
But struggles for the perfect words
You dance with abandon in the horizon
Tantalizing my vision with hues of red
And yellow and orange, all vibrant
Like a lovers’ campfire by the lakeside
Hoping to spill comfort from its warmth
The grass glistening from dewdrops
Awaits the soft, warm kiss from your lips
A thin, shy cloud cinctures your waist
And tops your crown, drinking your light
Losing its nature, becoming light itself
Becoming part of you, forgetting it is cloud
Fully knowing the morning is your show
Slowly, you change your shape in the sky
As white clouds pull you from the depths
Of your hiding place behind Sierra Madre
Your beauty takes a different shape
My camera captures your enigmatic smile
Which becomes mine, till it consumes me
I pray to hold you still, still in one place
To kneel before your unmatched grace
When hideousness creeps into my world
(by Cheryl Daytec, April 2008)
