Category: Poetry

Satur: Sharp Pen of Bisayan Letters

Poetry by | June 5, 2011

Bay Satur, my friend, when was it that Dagohoy by a whistle blow of his lips flew your dream like a kite in the sky?

Wait, you did awake at the flowering season of the word sown by the great Carlos P Garcia, right?

And soon your eyes tried to follow the reaches of your dream as you opened a window of your awakening beneath an awning of your      history.

Bay Satur, while your dream was budding leaves abundant you came down to history’s yard and began your trek on a seldom-traveled road.

Long was this journey you took, but you were blessed with more than enough victuals to sustain you in your trek in history.

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Anib sa Kinabuhi

Poetry by | June 5, 2011

i.
sa bata pa ako –
wa kong kailag kagul-anan
hubo ako sa kasakit –
lunlon lamang kalipay…
katawa – talidhay,
uban ang pakindangkindang
sa pagdula-dula
uban sa akong mga kabata;
dihay among gugma-gugma,
unya nagminyoay kami,
nagtatay-tatay,
nagnanay-nanay,
ug nag-anak-anak kami!

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I Higaonon

Poetry by | May 22, 2011

I.

I you call pagan,
you say pagan is bad people.
You say you is Christian
and Christian is good people.

You laugh I kneel on big rock
or I pray before big tree.
You angry I call Migbaya,
you say my God is devil.

I not laugh you kneel on dead tree
or you pray to hanging God there.
I not angry you call your God,
and I not call Him devil.

I angry you get my lands,
I angry you get my golds,
I angry you burn my wood books,
but you say I should love enemy.

You say love enemy
but you killed grandpa baylan,
you killed grandma bae,
you killed uncle bagani,
you killed even dog talamuod.

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folk tale

Poetry by | May 15, 2011

get shot:

the tiger
stalking your soul
demands the lead
aimed at your head.
hedge long enough
and the claws
buckle under the weight
of jealousy heavy
as any hunter’s boots.
growl,
leave paw marks in
and out of this jungle
bearing fear like fruits.

love can pull
triggers.
   (April 2, 1980)

saving grace

Poetry by | May 15, 2011

what children

having played house
now drag the fingernails across
blackboards, drawing attention
from dolls & coloring books
      illustrated
            with house rules.

sucking thumbs hours after
there is pain
during laughing games,
we gaze at
our hands
thumbless without identity.
   (April 19, 1980)

poetry, scorpions, dead puppies

Poetry by | May 15, 2011

tolerate
their tales.

wagless
dipped in ink
like handkerchiefs
that won’t
knot.

trying hard to rhyme.

blood and tales
refill
poets and
classrooms
losing grip on
a world
tattered red
and white.
   (April 17, 1980)

Sanggutan / Tuba-producing Coconut Tree

Poetry by | May 8, 2011

Aga, kulop,
Umuran, umadlaw,
May bagyo o wara,
Ginlalaoy ka,
Ginhahahangkupan,
Ginsasaklang,
Ug ginlilingkuran,
An im palwa,
Agad aparon,
Adton nalabaw,
Nga sasaluron,
Adton duga,
Nga naabid,
Siton mananggite.
   (Hunyo 6, 2010)

—

Morning, afternoon,
Rain or shine,
Storm or no storm,
He visits you,
Embraces you,
Then climbs up,
And sits
On the palm frond,
And slices the tip,
Of the coconut flower bud,
The juice
That flows
Is then collected
By the tuba gatherer.
   (June 10, 2010)

—
Si Nemesio “Totoy” Baldesco sakop sa Calbayog Literary Arts Organization (CALAO) sa Samar. Mitambong siya sa Taboan 2011 sa Dabaw.