I could not let such a beauty go to waste.
Do not highlight the text please. I am trying to have a huge gap for my poem here. Do not highlight the text please. I am trying to have a huge gap for my poem here. Do not highlight the text please. I am trying to have a huge gap for my poem here. Do not highlight the text please. I am trying to have a huge gap for my poem here. Do not highlight the text please. I am trying to have a huge gap for my poem here. Do not highlight the text please. I am trying to have a huge gap for my poem here. Do not highlight the text please. I am trying to have a huge gap for my poem here. Do not highlight the text please. I am trying to have a huge gap for my poem here. Do not highlight the text please. I am trying to have a huge gap for my poem here. Do not highlight the text please. I am trying to have a huge gap for my poem here.
Before she was shattered by my bullets
Pagtatagpo
Balot ako ng kayumangging roba na tinatakluban
ang buo kong katawan mula sa bumbunan ng aking ulo
hanggang sa mga kuko ng aking dalawang paa.
Nag-uusal ako ng dasal
sa pasilyo ng monasteryo patungo sa aking kuwarto
nang ako ay mapahinto
at muli kang makatagpo
pagkatapos ng matagal na panahon.
Sa ating pagtungo, hindi ang iyong mukha, kung hindi
ang mga daliring nakausli sa iyong manggas ang nagpaalalang
ikaw ang minsan kong nakilala
na hinangad kong maging kaibigan
sa kabila ng aking kagustuhang mapag-isa.
Lingid sa aking kaalaman, iyon din pala ang nais mo –
ang maging monghe, katulad ko.
- mula sa tulang “Salaysay” ni Allan Popa
About a person who tries to walk
All it takes are just few steps.
My sandals squeak
Against the tiled floor,
Yes, I am only inches away
From my goal!
Until my feeble knees,
Like they usually do,
Yielded to the ground.
Ouch, but I am few inches
Away from my goal!
I sob uncontrollably.
Then you pick me up
And utter your usual words,
“You are too young
To defy gravity.”
But that was what you told me
Yesterday, and the other day;
Last week, the previous month,
The past year and all the ones that
Preceded it (if I remember correctly).
I changed my sandals several times already –
From size 3 to 10, and now size 8,
Yet everything is still the same -
I am still few inches away from my goal
And I still hear those exact words.
You know that I never wished
To fly, nor did I dream to float
On the puffy clouds or reach
The twinkling stars in the sky.
I only pray for one thing:
That is to conquer those few inches
And get to my goal,
Like you always do
When you stand on your two feet
And pick me up when I fall.
This you never knew
And probably will never know,
For only blank eyes stare at mine
Whenever I try to speak,
Help me reach my goal.
Sabi ng isang bata sa kanyang kalaro
(noong ika-26 ng Setyembre 2009 sa Marikina Riverbanks)
Halika kaibigan, lumangoy tayo sa
Katubigang pumapalibot sa atin,
Damhin ang lamig ng bawat patak ng
Tubig sa ating balat,
Habang hindi nagpapadala sa
Malakas na ihip ng hangin.
We never talked
But we knew we always had the connection -
From the day our eyes met and
We started to see each other at
Random places. In school, we walked from
Opposite directions, but we somehow managed to
Intersect, exactly at the same point, despite
The number of people around us, which
Supposedly must hinder our chance
Meetings. At a fastfood, where we ate
With our own friends, we went out at
The same time, regardless of
Who came first and how long the stay.
On our way home, we were standing
At the same train station. I knew you came first,
For you were there when I already came.
I was seated far from where you were
Standing and still, I could see you. And I know
You could also see me, because for that slip second,
Our eyes met again.
The doors opened and I knew I had to go,
But somehow I looked back, to your direction,
Just to know if you cared that I would leave.
And yes you did, those pair of eyes
Glanced my way for the last time
For I had to turn around and go. But I knew
I had nothing to worry about. Next day
Would come, and on that same spot in school
We would see each other, also in that fastfood
And train station. Our eyes would continue to
Connect us in these unseemingly circumstances
for a few seconds. Yet, this was everything that we should have,
brief moments and our eyes
For we never needed words.
*no revisions*
Payo ng mansanas sa kakain nito
Mula sa puno ako ay iyong pitasin. Pagkatapos,
Idiin mo nang marahan ang iyong ngipin sa akin
At ukaban ang malutong kong laman – na binabalutan ng
Balat na pula.
Kasabay nito, tatagak ang aking
Katas na dapat namnamin ng iyong
Dilang hahanap-hanapin ang manamis-namis kong
Sarap. Sipsipin at kagatin mo pa ako nang
Paulit-ulit upang lalo mo pang malasap ang
Takam, na magtatapos sa aking pagkatuyo at kawalan
Nang ngatngatin mo ako hanggang sa aking
Kaibuturan.
Draft
* The concept had kept popping in and out of my brain for a long time already and it was just until recently that I got my hands and mind working on this one. The delay? This was not me. Not really what I used to write about. So I was posting this to have a sense of accomplishment, since I was trying to write the first draft for four days and what I got was only one paragraph. Hmmmm.
He hastily got out of the entangled covers. He frantically searched for his garments – his slacks, polo and loafers, and immediately put them on, without pausing for a breath or two. Then to his bag on the chair beside the bed. He slung the strap on his shoulders and motioned to the door. I was about to get up – never mind if the blanket fell, he had already seen and explored every part of my body anyway, but just when I was about to, he stopped on his tracks, unsnapped the button of his bag and groped for something inside. He took out an envelope or something – I could not really see it clearly – and out of that were bills stacked together, bundled into one pile, as thick as a Valentine romance pocketbook. I thought he would shower me with money, or maybe I thought I was in a movie again, but he just went to the chair beside the bed and simply put the stack on it. That simple. After doing so, he moved fast again, making his way to the door without looking back or a word or two. And I was alone again. I was thinking of putting on some fresh, newly-washed clothes, but I was too tired to get them, let alone stand on my feet. So I lied down again and worked my mind again, feeling that if I concentrated on one thing the feeling of weariness from having my body spent would go away.
* There's a second paragraph following this one, but I am not yet ready to post it. :D
Pangako
Sabihin mo sa aking walang iwanan,
Kaibigan.
"Mananatili ako sa iyong tabi
Sa lahat ng sandali,
Pangako iyan kaibigan."
Ngunit katulad ng pagkaputol
Ng sanga sa puno
Datapwat matibay ang pagkakapit
Nito ay siya ring pagkabali ng iyong
Pangako ~
Pangakong hanggang ngayon ay
Pinanghahawakan ko.
Mahirap Magmakata
(Mata ay nagmamasid
Sa buong paligid
Nagbabakasakaling
Mayroong masambit.)
~
As Voices Come and Go
roaming around the room
Murmurs begin to
grow louder
Slow beats
become faster
As these sounds meet
and bump
one another
But they are nothing
Nothing compared
to the only voice
that calmed
my tumultuous nerves
The only voice
that soothed
my restless sleep
The only voice
that called forth my long gone laughter
The only voice I would follow wherever it might go
The only voice that matters to me the most
As it passed by
and made its way
it did not hear however
my own voice
bespeaking
it to be with me
Forever.
Bakit kasi nagsusulat pa gayong punung-puno na ng marka
Nang una kong ilapat ang aking panitik
Sa markadong sulatan
Sinubukang mapansin
Mula sa libu-libong sulatin
Sulat dito, sulat doon,
Ngunit ako ay bigo pa rin
…
Pagod na ako.
Subalit ibig ko pang magsulat.
…
Sumulat.
…
Sulat.
…
Ngunit hindi na kaya.
Mabigat na ang pluma
Sa mga daliring walang sigla.
Parirala. Salita. Titik.
Marahil may maisusulat pa
Sa papel na punung-puno na
Ng marka.
…
Hapung-hapo na ako.
Marahil wala talaga akong puwang
Diyan sa puso mo.