Poetry by Rhea Valdez | October 30, 2016
Ang kakusog
sa hangin mipalid
sa balod,
aron gaan inig layag
ang bangka nga misugat.
Kay sa langtod,
ang baybayon gahulat,
andam moduyog nimo
bisan asa.
Layo sa kaniadto,
layo sa ilaha
padung sa kaugmaon
padung sa imong
kaugalingon.
Rhea Valdez is a third year student of Ateneo de Davao University taking up BSED-English.
Poetry by Ma. Theresa Jabar | October 30, 2016
I leave today behind
in the jeepney
like snakeskin.
i leave it
in the blur of city lights
and hair waving like flags.
i leave it
in the sway
of sleeping strangers’ heads,
in the noise of traffic
drowned
by the still silence
of passengers—
skin to skin
we still carve spaces
between each other.
the engine
thrums and roars
underneath the seats,
a steady heartbeat
and like infants
we surrender freely.
when you are lonesome
it’s easy to find safety
in the silence
of strangers
and easier to spill past selves
into the highway
to leave them,
in the black smoke
and sea of headlights
and come bare and clean
into bed
close to midnight.
the wind can wash
almost anything away.
Ma. Theresa Jabar is a student from Xavier University Ateneo de Cagayan.
Poetry by Arsean Kerk H. Lopez | October 23, 2016
Ako nga diri gapungko,
sa dalom sang galuya nga bulan,
gaisip gid sang maayo.
Gatanga,
gapamatyag.
Hindi ko gusto nga maghalin diri
pero wala ta mahimo,
sa akon ‘di sila gusto.
“Damak, baho
wala pulos.”
Gasakit akon dughan,
uliton naman tanan.
Ang langit nga gadugo,
ang manok nga gasyagit.
Ang adlaw nga gabagabaga
nga daw ginasunog akon panit.
“Piste, ara na sya,
ay ka tonto.”
Diri naman ka natulog?
Panglimos sa iban didto.
Halin diri, mag-abri na kami.
Gihimos ko akon mabilang nga gamit.
Silaw ang adlaw ah,
kanami magpaipit.
Arsean Kerk H. Lopez, is a 5th year accountancy student in Ateneo de Davao University.
Poetry by Darylle Rubino | October 23, 2016
If mothers were flowers
their mouths bear the burden of bees
to kiss the world new
while the old pass with the dews.
They open to sunlight
their curtains bare to passing winds,
singing the growing gardens.
Watered every once in moments
with tenements and memoirs
moist inside the leaves, joyed
with the voice of have-been seeds
to little ones rearing up
reaching up what they
cannot reach.
Still in graceful steady stance
weighs on their eyes only loveliness,
only themselves only beauty
sought in moving on
and remembering
the singing of growing gardens.
Darylle “Darsi” Rubino is a graduate of the Creative Writing program of the University of the Philippines Mindanao. He resides in Cabaguio Avenue, Davao City, where he spends time (a lot of time) making omelettes and drinking tea.
Poetry by Genevieve Mae Aquino | October 16, 2016
(for Janice)
He doesn’t want you.
Not with your pungent scent
marking the strength
of your personality.
He wants that onion-
head with her pale skin
and purple highlights.
Her sly manipulations
move him to tears,
make him want to
peel back her layers and
save her from herself.
But, you, Garlic, are
your own leading lady.
You don’t need a knight
in armor or Viking
prince or Scot in a kilt,
or any odd alpha male
to carry your burdens.
You are no weakling.
Not you, dear bulbous
heroine of the Kitchen.
You, who saved us from
vampires and toothaches.
Nightingale of the World
Wars, how many heroes
survived thanks to your
antiseptic intervention?
It’s not your loss,
dear Garlic, if he
wants a drama
queen in his life.
Come, let us peel away
your thin, fragile skin.
Crush your cloves
and toss you into
the vat of burning
oil, until you become
the gold that spices up
this bland world.
He may not
want you, but
we appreciate
your virgin sacrifice.
Genevieve Mae Aquino was born in Manila but calls Davao her home. She has a clutch of diplomas in molecular biology and genetics. She was fellow for Poetry in English at several national creative writing workshops. She currently works as a university researcher at the University of the Philippines.
Poetry by Fraulein Bosch Silva | October 2, 2016
“Madayaw na araw!”, kadaig mga utaw ga-laong.
Pero sa bus pag awon magtiyab ng dinabaw o mandaya,
Gina-laong nilan, “nanga sa yaan siya?”
Yawala da gyud ang lingwahe nami na ngani yaghuya.
Awon mga okasyon, sa siyudad o hain man,
Mga bado nami, ginagamit, “identity ng Mindanao” laong nilan
Pero pag gamiton da ni Juan, awon stereotyping da uman,
Kag prejudice isab, murmur nilan as if, taga ibang bayan.
Todo deny isab minsan, pero tribal motif ang restaurant
Kadaigay customer, “no spoon” rule, dahon kanila pigka-anan,
Aduy! Maputi man o mga elite na awon, pigaganahan
Sana singud-saan da permanente, total kita-kita man lang.
Awon gani yag-ugpa ngadto Manobo o b’laan,
Few flapos da uman, sa radio ko yaan nadunggan,
Bisaya man ang accent, todo deny brethren ko kana-an,
Aduy! Nanga sa yaan silan, si Juan man isab mismo yagtago man.
Fraulein Bosch Silva obtained B.S. Psychology in Guidance and Counseling from Cor Jesu College in 1997. She enrolled and graduated M.A. Psychology in Counseling Psychology from Negros Oriental State University in 2005. She is currently taking up Ph. D. Psychology in Counseling Psychology at the Ateneo de Davao University. She is an Associate Member of the Psychological Association of the Philippines (PAP) and a former member of Philippine Guidance and Counseling Association (PGCA). She has written novels and recent inspirational and reference books entitled ‘Overcoming Anger’ and ‘Understanding the Self’ that will be out of market this year under Cronica Books publications.
Poetry by Cyrell Alingasa | October 2, 2016
Una takang namatikdan sa umahan sa duol,
Gahawan pud day kas mga sagbot sa imong yuta.
Nag pamati ra kos mahilum, apan wala ko damha
Nga ang mga tan-aw nato duna pay ika lalum.
Nilabay ang pipila ka adlaw, nasaag ka sa akong yutang
Gi-atiman. Gi sugnod nimo ang mga kogon, gibungkal ang yuta,
ug gi ila-ila ang akong kalibutan.
Ang mga alindanaw sa akong umahan, nagmalipayon;
Ug ang mga punoan sa cacao nagpungasi.
Ang mga kogon sa yuta hinay hinay
Nga gakawagtang, gatubo na ang sagbot sa kabaw.
Sukad sa una natong pagila-ila,
dungan na tang gahulat sa pagsalop sa adlaw;
Nahibaw-an nakong duna tay kanya-kanyang kasubo,
Apan ang kinabuhi nimo’g ako dili hilayo.
Makapamati tas pareha nga huni,
Nagasayaw tas usa ka pandanggo.
Duna tay usa ka paghuna-huna sa ilalum sa tagsa-tagsa
Natong krus. Ang imong kasakit akoa, ang akoa, imo.
Ang atong mga pagbati napadayag bisan pas kawad-un
Sa mga pulong nga sakto.
Ang pagsubang sa adlaw kalipay sa mga mata
Kay ang kahayag midampi sa imong nawung
Ug gahatag sa kasidlak sa mga yamog.
Ay, kanindot sa talan-awun;
Pagka anindot lantawun sa umahang gitikad
Sa atoang mga singot.
Ang duga sa lemon nga daw aslum
gahatag og katam-is sa samad sa atong mga kamot.
Bulahan ang yuta’ng gi atiman sa nag higugmang
Kasing-kasing. Mabungahon ang yuta og dunay
Pagpanumbaling.
Cyrell is a psychosocial worker in a local NGO that helps young adolescent children in vulnerable situations. She is a graduate student of Masters in Applied Social Research at the Ateneo de Davao University. She also paints and sketches, aside from writing fiction and poetry.
Poetry by Floraime O. Pantaleta | September 25, 2016
She went to walk to the other end of the stage
Her feet rises one after the other, as if jumping,
When she reaches the other edge, she raises her arms and stands a while
She did this for many times; sometimes running,
sometimes walking. Her eyes sometimes search
she is looking for something;
There is a little girl who came with her mother
First, the wave of prayer. “Santa Maria
Madre de Dios rega por nosotros…”
It is seconded by her feet: pak pak pak pak
“…pecadores ahora y hasta para cuando…”
No one complains, no one thinks wrong of it
even if everyone sits, kneeling, praying
The Holy Virgin sits on the table
Three: A little girl’s laughter
“Amen.”
Floraime is a Basileña who majored in Literature, Linguistics, and Language Teaching at the Iligan Institute of Technology of the Mindanao State University. She is currently teaching subjects on Literary and Language Studies in the same university. The poem “Santifica” is the first Chabacano literary piece ever published in Dagmay. “Sanctify” is the approximation of the meaning in the Chabacano language, and not the translation, as indicated by the author herself.