"Third World Geography"

"The weight of just one feather" 

To my understanding the poem "Third world Geography" by Cirilo F. Bautista, is about national identity of Filipinos, it talks about the influences on the Philippines and their identity being fought in history. Leaving their sacrifice and struggle for nothing.

For me the issues being addressed in the poem is about the colonization of the Philippines and how it is affecting their national identity. In the line "A country without miracles" I think is probably referring to our country as a third world country because we are only colonized by the Spanish and also with times right now where most children don't even know basic culture has been an issue in the Philippines and also most children are now learning their first language as English and barely know any of their Dialect of origin. This can also represent the Philippines lacking progress or change due to people's sufferings because the governance like hoards the nations hope leaving a burden to the people as suggested in the line "the man who watches over it" and also this line "A handful of feathers" can mean the sufferings of the people are being ignored by the leaders who don't take their job seriously. 

There are many literary devices I can see in the poem, such as Metaphor, Symbolism, Irony, Imagery, and Personification, and I think Repetition. Because I noticed in the line "Just a handful of feathers" represents leaders that their roles are easy just because they have a high status despite the suffering the people have to endure. Like in the line where a man is carrying a sack, we don't know what's inside, but we just assume its heavy because it is a sack and a man is carrying it making us believe he is actually carrying something heavy, but it is just feathers. This could probably represent power from people who have a title and duty and how manipulative they can be because they can just use their status. I don't want to tackle everything because there is a lot, but I can also explain where Irony is being used in this poem, such as "Thats how light the burden of government is in peace time" Because like Peace is supposed to be calming in nature and carefree but in this poem, it is depicting that peace is a facade. And lastly the easiest one to notice is imagery like "Banana trees rotting in the sunlight".

For me on how this poem resonates with me, is that this poem resonates with our history of colonization from other countries. Many people and communities continue to suffer while leaders remain being dishonest. Despite being all this poverty still exists.

The line "The country without miracles" makes me think about the weight of suffering the people have to endure and all the confusion. We are a country who is blessed with freedom, but we are often portrayed and treated like victims of misfortune and poor governance. This poem made me reflect on our culture and remember that our language and freedom have been fought for rights and we need to embrace and support it.