I shall never exchange my fetters for slavish servility. ’Tis better to be chained to the rock than be bound to the service of Zeus. --Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound
Mars shall glow tonight, Artemis is out of sight. Rust in the twilight sky Colors a bloodshot eye, Or shall I say that dust Sunders the sleep of the just?
Hold fast to the gift of fire! I am rage! I am wrath! I am ire! The vulture sits on my rock, Licks at the chains that mock Emancipation’s breath, Reeks of death, death, death.
Death shall not unclench me. I am earth, wind, and sea! Kisses bestow on the brave That defy the damp of the grave And strike the chill hand of Death with the flaming sword of love. Orion stirs. The vulture Retreats from the hard, pure
Thrust of the spark that burns, Unbounds, departs, returns To pluck out of death’s fist A god who dared to resist.
Ruben Cuevas, “Prometheus Unbound*” (Published in Focus Magazine, 1973)
*The poem “Prometheus Unbound” was sneakily published by Jose Lacaba under the pseudonym Ruben Cuevas in the Marcos-ally Focus Magazine on 1973. The beginning of each line spelled MARCOS HITLER DIKTADOR TUTA, a popular chant used in protests against the Martial Law. He was later arrested and tortured upon the discovery of the hidden words.
Rage on.











