Category: Poetry

Itum ug Ugis

Poetry by | August 30, 2015

Nilung-ag sa kalderong itom nga nabuntagan sa abuhan
Pasaluman sa kapi nga duga sa mais nga sinanlag,
Sugaton ka sa magtigiay nga kolor diha pagbundak sa adlaw
Para ilang malampusong panagsagol sa imu ipatilaw.
Ug palamian pa sa isda nga nikuyot
Didto sa iyang kadugayong pagkamatay,
Palanguyon pag’ayo didto sa niinit nga bahaw
Pasulura na sila sa imung baba nga nihubas,
Kay wa pa ang luwag nga mahimung katigi.
Katab-ang,
Katamis,
Kapaait
Ug Kaparat,
Kauban sa imung dila sila lima managsagol
Malata sa ngit-ngit ug magduga og kalami
Mahulog sa usa ka danlog ug diha mahuna-hunaan
Nga ang pinobreng pagkaon lisud labawan.

—
Salle was born and raised in Baganga Davao Oriental and finished a degree in Bachelor of Arts in Communication Arts at the University of Immaculate Conception, Davao City. An Associate Editor in college, Salle attended National Student Press Convention.

Kanto Interaksyon

Poetry by | August 16, 2015

kanto interaksyon
Institusyon
For interaction
Mangutana for information
Pangutana Bombay negotiation
Embarkation, sibat-ation
inadlawan-inadlawan
wa kanay daganan
Utang lipay-lipay
Bayad likay-likay
paghinay-hinay
paglikay-likay
Dire magkitaay
Si undo ug si inday
paglingi-lingi, pag-hinayhinay
ayawg tabis, kay magbangi
bola, mutugpa sa ulo
basketbol court sa kanto
Ma purok, ma baryo,
masyudad mamunisipyo
dunay tournament, liga sa kanto
ang mayor, si kongresman
senador, konsehal, sk, el kapitan
miting de abanse,
hala ipasalig kami
tanan musaksi
tanan nawong pulos ngisi
tanan didto saksi
lamano ayaw kalimti
Trisikad
Dunay sikad
Taxi Multi cab ug jeepney, oy noy sakay ko be
Dali pasilong
Ang atop duna nay niangkon
Gimarkahan
Giihian
Gipasaligan
Sa atup, sa bungbong
Gipanagiyahan
Barog
Stop, look and listen
Ang uban automation
Red yellow green
Dunay nagbarog the dancing green
Kanto
Daungan
Tambay
Pahulay
Tan-aw, muni-muni
Retirement venue,
murag senior citizen
Basag bandera
O hala
Edama-dama
Pildi (tubag2x) -kaon
Tanan lumalabay
Nagpabiling tambay
Damgo sa kanto
Tibuuok adlaw pahayahay
Mura nanig balay
Sala, kusina
Sa lingkuranan maghayang
Sa lamesita
Bote itak-ang dama, baraha, bandera
Kanto
Tagbo
Stop look and listen, shot shot , larok larok
Susu! Lamoy!
Turot turot !
Pandesal
Turot-turot
Naa moy kape, unsa man, kanang pakete
Mantika piso
Asin nga piso
Toyo piso
Pila katakos 2x
Patawaga ko te
(telepono)
Nay, nay si inaday ni
Padala na kawarta kay finals na
Sunod semana!
Dili ko kaeksam
Ayawg tuo gilakawtsa lang na
Hilom!
Nay ha karong semanaha , cge kay maligo pko ma late nako
Sabon panlaba, ug syampo pud,
nge unsa pa?
Ug conditioner pud
Nge daghana na ani day uy
Kanto interaksyon
Kanto interaksyon
Institusyon
Kanto,Tagbo
Stop look and listen, shot shot , larok larok
Susu! Lamoy

—
Noy is an artist and teacher from Mandug, Davao City.

A Piece of Old News

Poetry by | August 9, 2015

I am content when wakened birds,
Before they fly, test the reality
Of misty fields, by their sweet questionings;
But when the birds are gone, and their warm fields
Return no more, where, then, is paradise?
-Sunday Morning, Wallace Stevens

This is what it means to be broke in a time where your friends own smartphones
and post pictures of latte and waffles on Instagram: daytime light
no longer spears through the windows but barely makes them glow.

The knocking on the clear Plexiglas pane is another poor soul dressed
in olive skin and tattered clothes with his little five-year-old palm

stretched out to you, the other holding a somewhat rusty tin cup.

The guy cleaning tables at Jollibee sees the little beggar and draws the blinds

so that you wouldn’t feel bad. Where were their mothers? Some social workers
just so happened to be hungry and were eating burgers at a table opposite you.

They wore frowns, their eyes fixed on their food and drinks. The sound
of metal hitting a glass pane makes you turn towards the window.
“That same kid had run away from six foster homes,” you hear one of them say.

The window’s warm glow fades with the day as the shadows grow longer.
A boy helps a man wearing sunglasses walk past you, holding a cane.

—
John Oliver Ladaga is taking BA English (Creative Writing) at UP Mindanao.

Untitled

Poetry by | August 9, 2015

Your soul’s time has run out
and your near-empty husk now breathes its last:
a shimmering white light exits its mouth
and in the following second the light in its eyes

dies

and i mourn your (un)timely departure

while gripping the hand of the husk that you left.

My own soul grieves,

my eyes cry waterfalls,
my mind goes numb,
my vision blurry,
my hands shaky,

but even then I have to face the reality
that even I know that you will never come back

because you cannot come back

because they have cut up your empty husk
and dipped it in formalin
(which is totally lethal, by the way)

because they have locked it up in a wooden box
and dressed it up for a gaudy display
while they mourn and take one last look at you
and “pay their last respects”

while they stuff their mouths with the cakes at the wake
and down the stuff with coffee
(but I presume they are eating away the pain)

and because they have only just crammed the wooden box
inside a concrete box
one that holds barely enough oxygen
to keep a man alive
(okay, maybe for ninety minutes, but still)
and they have forgotten to take into account
that you are claustrophobic

and that cement boxes over wooden boxes
do not have even basic facilities

and so I am worried that you will drown in your shit.

So you do not come back to your husk

because you cannot come back to your husk,
because going back again would be just torture,
because they killed you by asphyxiation,

and so your husk just goes back to dust

which is a pity for such a beautiful husk

and sometimes I wonder if it is still worth it
to break both boxes and pick up all the pieces

ten years later when just the bones remain.

Ga Ulan sa Sulod ug sa Gawas

Poetry by | July 26, 2015

Nilabay na ang Hunyo
Ug ga sugod-sugod napod og ulan.
Murag kita
Na sugod-sugod nasad
atong daan na kahimtang –
Pareha sa ulan
Mo kalit ra og ka kusog
Kung dili, mabundak.
Usahay ga silaw unta ang adlaw,
Unya gaka basa na atong mga likod
Sa pagtulo sa langit.
Katong Marso, gibilin na unta tika
sa init na panahon,
Pero nagbasa ra gihapon akong buot
Tungod sa ulan gikan
sa imong mga mata.
Nag huna-huna ko
Kung madumduman nimo
Ang mga dagat na akong gi puno
Tungod sa atong pag-uban?
Karon
Gina kuptan nimo akong kamot
Kamulo’g hawid sa akong payong.
Mikusog na ang ulan
Og sa akong alimpatakan
Ga bundak pod ang buhawi.

—
Abby James is currently an English teacher at Xavier University – Ateneo de Cagayan.

kinsay tag-iya sa babayi

Poetry by | July 26, 2015

1
Kinsa bay tag-iya sa lawas sa babae: Susama pud ba kini sa pag-angkon sa yuta sa tawo? Masmahal pa siguro ang kantidad sa yuta kay sa unod?

2
Kinsa bay tag-iya sa babayi… murag-anay , nga paanakon
Mag-padidi, mag-amuma sa mga baktin niya pag-mapuslan na, biyaan kining malustay
Duna pud miy katungod nga mag-amomag pipila lamang ka anak, kung unsay makayayo namo…

3
(aw unsa pa)
kinsa bay tag-iya , sa lawas sa babae? Ang kapitalista, negosyante?
Unsay bay kalibutan sa ilimnon ug babe? Malarok ba ninyo nang lawas nga usa ka dupa? Matuk-an ra unya mo,.

4
Kinsa ba tag-iya, lawas sa babae? Ang bana ba, nga gusto niya bisan kanus-a ?
Aw.. dunay mga tawo nga ang utok naa sa tunga sa paa
D’ ma kadunggog bisan tudluan, singhagan o pakuratan
Kay an iyang ulo wala nabutang sa tunga sa dalunggan

5
Kinsa bay tag-iya sa lawas sa babae? Pang-nude session, liberal aron ingnon
Kinsa bay tag-iya sa lawas aning babayi”susama sa mga presko ug batan-on
Pag-nakatilaw na ok na, dili ra ba na kendi kung wa nay lami, balhin ug lain
Huna-hunaa ang bukog bisan di mahurot, apan nalawayan na kini

6
Kinsa bay tag-iya babayi? Ang tag-iya sa kotse?
Murag stuffed toy o duwaan nga ipakita sa mga kahigalaan? O sumsuman sa kanto sa kalalakihan? Sumsuman sa mga tapok-tapok sa mga kabatan-onan?

7
Pang flores de mayo? Intrams, tourism, bikini, kalendaryo, pang photographer, pang vitsin, pang jeans, shorts, espageti, pang celfone, eload, autolod? Mutya. Miss earth, miss universe, world, miss island,pang wawawi, miss wa

8
Kinsa bay tag-iya sa babayi ? ang katilingban? Ang simbahan? Idelohiya? Ang feminista? Ang aktibista? Ang pikas? Ang armado? Ang bandido? Ang baylan? O ang kinaiyahan? O sumsuman sa kadalanan

9
Kinsa bay tag-iya sa babayi?
Magsilbi kami… apan dili kami ulipon

—
Noy is an art student in life, art practitioner, and art educator.

White Opulence

Poetry by | July 26, 2015

I am
what you find inside
the calloused hands
chiseled by the briny
kiss of nature
I am
coy, white recluse
my luster feel refuse
to be captured by the
texture of envious sands
and mocking corals
I am
rare purity, drop of ivory
my placid chambers
protect me from the unfathomable
blue blanket oblivion in
which I am found
I am
white opulence, milk of essence
spilled on the Orient floor
away from the jealous shore
now find me in this aquatic void

—
Nina was born and raised in the sunny city of Davao.

Rue

Poetry by | July 26, 2015

Should it rain tonight –
I shall escape the overbearing
hands of clouds
slice into the wind
divide the night
soul and body
rummage to the ground
and fall asleep
in one of the quiet corners
of the world
form an ocean of carnations
that would blossom in the viridian morning.
into the sun
i will leap ripe into the wind
until the horizon is incarnadine,
prancing now, in a singular stride
of laughter.

—
Windsor is a flight attendant from Manila, lived in Cebu for 6 months, and has since then left the ashes of who he is there.