On a cloudy Wednesday,
While listening to my favourite Tagalog playlist,
I scribbled a love note.
Dear Love,
I don't know you yet, but I want to do life with you.
I can already feel how random meeting you would be; or maybe not.
I have so many secrets to share with you;
Will you keep my secrets?
I'll keep yours as well .
Then, I paused.
Thinking of what to write next.
My eyes shifted to my music player.
‘Muse’, the track I love came on.
While mouthing the words of the song,
The love note I was writing flew right past me;
Released into the wind.
Looking at the note which seemed to drift farther from my sight,
I mouthed the words that would have ended the love note.
I’ll prove my heart to you
I'll make you to be proud of what I feel for you...
Your love
Sa kanilang mga anino,
Kami’y kanilang itinago
Lagi kami ang sinusuyo
Na manatili lang sarado
Na dating walang pumapanig
Noong kami ay nalulupig
Ngunit ngayon, kami’y titindig
At sana’y kami ay marinig
At bakit naman kami matitinag?
Dahil ba kami ay babae lamang?
At bakit kami pa ang maduduwag,
Sa lupaing kami rin ang nag-silang?
Kailan pa nagging sukatan
Ang aming mga kasarian?
At ang taglay na kakayahan
Na ipagtanggol ang lipunan
Mag-dadamit, mag-hahayag ng malaya
May lakas ng loob at di nahihiya
Dahil di na nila kami madadaya
Sa pag-laban namin ng aming hustisya
Tatayo kami at titingala
Sa pag-tibay ng paniniwala
Ika’y babaeng dinadakila,
Na di na muling maalila.
PM, 2022
You’re hailed as “Pearl of the Orient Seas”
The Creator* has blessed you with rich endowments
Including a peculiar history, indeed great…
Making me thankful for making you the land of my birth.
In Southeast Asia is where you’re grandly settled
Possessing distinct culture you share with neighbors;
Your heritage nurtured through virtues lived by daily
Exposes me to good moral values.
With your triumphantly fought-for independence
Wrought by the Lord’s sovereignty with people’s unity
Along heroes’ ardor, powered by patriotism and love
I’m now anchored by peace, justice and freedom-might.
“Mabuhay ang Pilipinas!”** My assertive declaration!
“Long live the Philippines!” I shout with gratitude!
*Isaiah 40:28 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.
**The Tagalog words for "Long live the Philippines!"
December 24, 2019
2nd place, "Whitman-Inspired Uplifting Poetry, old or new" Poetry Contest
Sponsored by Carolyn Devonshire; judged on 1/20/2020.
Kathang-isip na mapagkunwari
Ginto'y sa dulo raw ng bahag-hari
Sa huling hininga bumabawi
Nasanay lang sa suwail na gawi.
Araw-araw sumasapit ang gabi
Mga tala'y lumayo sa tabi
Ang hangin lang ang madalas bumati
Tadhana'y sadyang mapaghiganti
Kung maari'y sayo ay lumagi
Giliw huwag na sanang tumanggi
Nawa ating kaluluwa'y mag-sapi
Sa daigdig nating mapang-api
Nagsidigmaan na ang mga lahi
Sa puso kong tinastas ang tahi
Sa'yo o sa leeg ba itatali?
Sakaling maitama ang mali.
- PM, 2018 (Filipino poem written in Tagalog)
AALIS KA PALA
PLalakaw Kabs
Elementary Grade Ballad Song
TAGALOG
Aalis ka pala,
at ako'y iiwanan,
Ang pupuntahanmo,
sa malayong lugar.
Hindi ba'tnoong una,
ako ay iyongmahal.
Kahit sa pagtulog,
binabantayankita.
Ang hilingko lamang,
kung may mahal ka na.
Kung may mahal ka na,
limutinmo ako ...
MARANAO
P'lalakaw ka bs,
p'lipatan akungka.
Aya zongowan nka,
na so mawatana ingd.
Di kna sa paganay,
saknso garingka.
Bapya so kathurog,
na phagipatnko ska.
Aya phang-nin akn,
na owana garingka.
Na owana garingka,
na lipati akungka dn ...
And suddenly understand you're underwater
Flapping, snap-coral beneath someone's paradise
Bung-lusting rope towards parallax sunslick
then smacking the sole of your swollen left foot
with an empty Coke bottle, the driver's advice
While cursing the urchins in firstling jerk Tagalog.
Later your friends bring you sell-by-date strawberries
candour and candlesticks
joysticks and carrot cake.
Jim makes you laugh
till you don't.
And so soon you consider
the maximum age for dancing
half naked in half-light.
In the gaps you must wonder
whether good folk seek heaven
because it's a lie,
or deny it
because it isn't.
Back in the suburbs the sun is on holiday
Locksmiths are busy, the elderly cold
I don't mind the rain, which feels like connection
Singing Roy Orbison, so near the fold
I love you
words spoken
in English Spanish Arabic Tagalog and Swahili
words spoken
by waitress
and by the tycoon
by the wife
and by the mistress
by the executive
and by the seamstress
words you hear
whispered
among those who kill
and among those who are killed
hatreds other face
destiny
of human race.
Things to do:
AM:
Don’t wake up early!
Spend an hour for breakfast, sip coffee , savor the flavor
Open the TV, look for TFC (The Filipino Channel)
Inspect Tori (my dog) for any fleas.
Haul neighbor’s free wood for winter’s heat.
Clean up the garden of drying dead daisies.
Organize closet, set aside old clothing
Call services for the blind for donation pick up
Plan on organizing picture albums.
Open poetry soup .com
PM:
Don’t cook! Buy a ready-made lunch!
After lunch, nap. Put the carbohydrates to work.
Wake up, blink, repeat!
Stare at the clock on the mantle
Plan on hitting the shopping mall
Hit Ross, browse, don’t buy ( tight in budget now)
Hit the thrift store , browse, don’t buy ( space is saturated)
Hit the high end store, don’t buy (too expensive)
Evening:
Plan A: text my available friend until I run out of topic
Plan B: Watch TFC: Walang Hanggan (Till Eternity) , A Tagalog drama series in TFC
I wonder if the routine is worth repeating the following day!! EEEK help me!
BAHAY KUBO II
Bahay Kubo Part II
Built exclusively for us
A place and time to go
Destined to share happiness
With you!
This Bahay Kubo
Simply small for two
Made of native and light materials
Everything practically installed
For a living full of faith and love.
Bahay Kubo
Intended for privacy and rest
Also for the family and playground for grandkids
For recreation and reflections
And viewing the beautiful sunset.
An unforgettable site to hyde
Plan for the future
Solve problems
Share the fullness of love
And seek solitude with
God’s Omnipotence, Guidance and Love!
Term: Bahay Kubo - Tagalog word for a small hut
Strands of satiny pineapple fibers
From the superbly prickly pieces of leaves
Refined by the nifty naked hands
Of the great sophisticated artisans
Beyond this unequaled plant
Is a peculiar product exist
Only native Filipinos - Tagalogs can procreate
An art of aesthetic craftsmen
The fabric of my historical breed
Versatile apparel suits for formal affairs - weddings
From 20 meters of silk processed and produced - four months
Nation known as PEARL OF THE ORIENT
Exaltedly introduces this "BARONG TAGALOG"
Through cordial hardworks and artistic thinkings
A lifetime masterpiece dominates the Philippine Art
A cloth woven by faith and ornamented by passion
A cloth designed by heart and given birth through life
A cloth perfected by artistry and embroidered by fidelity
For native Batanguenos, this is their breath
Respiring together as they brocade their future
Future that depends on THE PHILIPPINE NATIONAL CLOTH - BARONG TAGALOG.
*BATANGUENOS - people of Batangas,Philippines
*BARONG TAGALOG - Philippine National Cloth
------------Jun-jun Villanueva
----ANYTHING HANDMADE CONTEST by nette onclaud
Die Scherben des Lebens lassen sich nicht kitten. (German)
The shards of the life cannot be cemented. (English)
Los fragmentos de la vida no se puede enmasillar. (Spanish)
Les éclats de vie ne peu pas être à nouveau ensemble. (French)
I frammenti di vita non può essere di nuovo insieme . (Italian)
Die skerwe van die lewe kan nie weer saam wees. (Afrikaans)
Ang mga tipak ng buhay ay hindi maaaring simentuhin. (Tagalog)
Cioburile vietii nu pot fi cimentat. (Romanian)
Ancestors had fore-planned
My whole being in Spanish
Yet, my concerned parents wrote
My rhesus A-plus blood in Tagalog
I was born, they said
To enjoy my own life, not theirs
That I took slowly my first steps in Ilocano
Only to be held captive by a beast, a stranger
My Dad, lover of math, thought I got his brain
So, he slaved himself working…and sent
Me to a Catholic private school, but
I found myself reading in Russian
‘Cos I was granted summers bathe in Dnepro
Where I spied the future in a Ukrainian accent
Thou, alone for years, I managed to earn happiness
As I learned friendship and peace in Arabic
But, I was best-loved in Chechen
And I’ve lived my dalliance in French, my lovers
For me, my inspirations; they half-influenced
Me, to become words whisperer in English
Oh yes, life is strange
And full of twists, yet, I saw the sliver
Of hope in Modern Greek, when
I met my other half. She spoke about….
Xristos, in whom I now dwell
For his language of love I learn to speak
And I try to live it in perfection
Till I breathe my last