NASAAN KA NANG KAILANGAN KITA?
ni Steven Allen May
malayang salin ni Gregorio V. Bituin Jr.
Ako'y nagugutom
at nagbuo ka ng kapisanan ng makataong sining upang talakayin ang aking kagutuman.
Maraming salamat!
Ako'y nabilanggo
at tahimik kang pumaroon sa iyong tuklong
at ipinagdasal ang aking paglaya.
Ako'y hubad
at sa iyong isipan ay pinagdebatihan
ang moralidad ng aking anyo.
Ako'y may karamdaman
at lumuhod ak at nagpasalamat sa Diyos
sa iyong kalusugan.
Ako'y walang tirahan
at itinuro mo sa akin
ang banal na kanlungan ng Diyos.
Ako'y nalulumbay
at iniwan mo akong mag-isa
upang ipanalangin ako.
Tila baga isa kang banal,
na napakalapit sa Diyos
Ngunit ako'y gutom na gutom pa rin,
at nalulumbay,
at nangangatal.
Kaya saan napunta ang inyong dasal?
Anong nagawa ng mga iyon?
anong napapala ng isang taong nagbubuklat
ng kanyang aklat-dalanginan
gayong ang lahat ng tao sa daigdig
ay nagsusumamo ng kanyang tulong?
* Kinatha noong 1971 ni Steven Allen May nang siya'y 16 taong gulang. Hiningi ng kanyang ama ang kanyang permiso na maisumite ito sa pahayagan ng simbahang Methodista.
where were you when I needed you
by Steven Allen May
I was hungry
and you formed a humanities club
to discuss my hunger.
Thank you !
I was imprisoned
and you crept off quietly to your chapel and prayed for my release.
I was naked
and in your mind you debated the morality of my appearance.
I was sick
and you knelt and thanked God for your health.
I was homeless
and you preached to me of the spiritual shelter of God.
I was lonely
and you left me alone to pray for me.
You seemed so holy,
so close to God
But I’m still very hungry,
and lonely,
and cold.
so where have the prayers gone ?
what have they done ?
what does it profit a man to page through his book of prayers
when the rest of the world
is crying for his help ?
* Steven Allen May wrote this poem in 1971 when he was 16 years old. His father asked him for permission to submit it to a Methodist church newsletter.
