Oh How To Find Silence In This World

by Cirilo Bautista

Being spotted in the color of skin, a tiny dayuhan, dark and from

why I take care in San Francisco, some lupalog. Upside down

waiting for the bus to Iowa. my insides went in fright and pulled

They say racial prejudice is strong, a cigarette so the redness of my face

Negros and not whites kawawa, wouldnt show. I nahalata

and because of this they will revolt. that the Whites there too were quiet

I shiver and shiver from fear and hunger so quiet, unable to speak in front

because I just landed from Tokyo. of that Negro. Only when he left returned

A Negro came into the station the normalcy in the stationothers

naka-African hairdo; he holds a small read again, neighbors gossiped again,

whip: its scary to look, so laughter, the janitor sweeped again.

I did not look at him. Kumakalansing After a while that Negro passed again

the metal on the strings of his shoes two white Americanas on each arm,

and he shouts, Peace, brothers! Smiled blonde, their beauty with no equal.
showing
The janitor stopped sweeping.
white teeth. Looked at me
I thought, So this is racial prejudice.
maybe he laughed at what he saw
 Across the nation we have seen wide-spread hate crimes, discriminations, violent
protests, terrorist plots being carried out, stories of youth being severely bullied at school and
online, and gang brawls resulting in numerous deaths. There isn't a day that passes that some
senseless act of violence doesn't take the headline over a random act of kindness. Why does
violence penetrate the media far more than kindness and peace? Why do we gravitate toward
negative stories? Is it because they are more intriguing or entertaining?

By definition peace is a state in which there is no war or fighting: a state in which harmony
exists between different groups. It is also characterized as a time of tranquility and calmness.
Unfortunately, peace often doesn't get the attention it's worthy of and is frequently overlooked.
Sure, you can find the universal symbol on shirts, bedspreads, notebooks, etc., but how do we
extend beyond the scope of dcor and apply the true meaning of peace to our lives? What if we
turned our attention to more positive and uplifting events? What if we focused on peace rather than
violence, harm and hurt? With a world full of what often feels like chaos, how can we teach our
youth to live in peace?

With regards to the poem cited, this specifically refers to racial discrimination and
prejudice. To which a Negro recognized to be as a tiny, dark-skinned person and not known within
the community was persistently discriminated because of his difference to the common people.
They kept laughing and insulting the Negro because of his features up to the point that even a
person whos not common of the same case as well came to the spotlight. One have observed that
none even insulted the other foreigner for his difference as well, probably because of being more
attractive and good-looking than the Negro. To be honest, the poem being critiqued is somewhat
humorous on my basis due to its unwanted type of language used. The author combined English
and Filipino language to which we may refer as the Konyo language. I suddenly imagined Kris
Aquino while reading the poem that since though quite interesting and funny, still it is definitely
serious when it comes to the issue presented. The message is all whats important that explained
the reason why we need to silence the noise of the world, to promote peace in this chaotic world.

From local to national to international, there are many ways to distinguish and promote
peace. Louis Armstrong said it best in his classic "What a Wonderful World." Even when things
around us feel dismal and evil, we still live in a wonderful world. Peace can be achieved if each
individual treat everything equally and not consider ones difference from the society.