Precioso Tano Poet Free verse

Light on the Flag

I teach beneath a foreign sun,
where the desert hums in quiet gold,
and the call to prayer meets the ringing bell
of a Philippine school far from home.

My passport rests heavily in my pocket,
but my heart carries islands
Luzon’s mountains, Visayas’ seas,
Mindanao’s songs whispered in memory.

I speak of heroes not carved in stone alone,
but alive in values
malasakit, bayanihan, dignity in labor,
hope glowing on a smart board.

I tell my students:
Nationalism is not only loving the land you stand on,
but honoring the land that raised your name,
even when your feet are planted elsewhere.

In Qatar, I draw maps with digital light,
yet the truest map is within
a compass pointing always home,
no matter how far the journey goes.

Every correct answer, every dream encouraged,
is a quiet service to the nation I left behind.
For though I teach abroad,
my purpose remains Filipino.

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