Events by Edmond Julian dela Cerna | August 4, 2014
The date for the 2014 Davao Writers Workshop has been moved to October 27 to 31 (Monday to Friday) instead of the original October 23 to 27. Deadline for application remains the same, August 15. See workshop page for more details.
Nonfiction by Annalie Edday | August 3, 2014
In the past four months, I have been around Southeast Asia in line with my GIST (Guided Independent Study Travel) sojourn to visit the bamboo schools and green schools in the region and learn their best practices and challenges.
It has been an amazing and enriching journey. I thank the East West Center and Asia Pacific Leadership Program for giving me the opportunity to explore cultures, while I continue to unravel the roads that will shape my future and my community. My deepest mahalo! Continue reading Unraveling the Roads that Shape my Future
Poetry by Reicza Gene Cariaga Olojan | August 3, 2014
Sadness.
It comes.
It swoops down.
Its beady eyes focus,
Seeing a prey, it lunges.
Vulnerable.
Poor soul.
Battered by life
And its unrelenting blows.
It falls to the earth.
Inevitable.
Sadness comes.
Piece by piece
From my very bones
It tears the happiness completely.
Pain.
Excruciating torture.
A gaping hole
Where my heart lies.
Torn apart by its claws.
Flight.
Sadness left,
Never looked back.
I am all alone.
Weeping, I am dying inside.
—
Ms. Olojan is a literature senior at the University of Southeastern Philippines.
Poetry by Carlos Isagani Zarate | August 3, 2014
Yes, I vividly recall
the nights
And days we seem
to get along:
Was it just a year
or eonspast?
But it feels like a lifetime;
Or, another life;
yes, another time !
Honestly,howregretful
are the ways
Those nights progress, fade :
When shackled games
are played and replayed;
When spirits and egos
are bloated, sullied!
And then, there
you are , Amparo —
Coming like a fresh whiff
of air most serene
Sobering the drunkenness
ofsouls disappeared,
Massaging the numbness
of aruined, snuffed heart.
But, why, I asked,
O’ happiness dear,
As the laughterfills,
nay, overflows my glass,
arranging, uttering,
singing affectionate songs,
As the letters flow, rage down
my pen’svein,
rummaging , dredging
o’er buried pasts;
You remove
thewinged shield
thatfreely nurtures,
thatnaturally fortifies;
I am, ruined now,
buried.
By the hills
defenseless.
Broken,
alone.
Again.
—
Mr. Zarate is Bayan Muna representative at the 16th Congress.
Poetry by Kevin Mikhail Gomez | August 3, 2014
I
Ano pa ba ang saysay ng
buhay ko
Kung di ko marinig, iyong
munting tinig
Paano pa ba ako muling
babangon sa mundo
Lulubog sa lupa ang lahat
Ref
Di magagawang ika’y hilain
pababa
Di magagawang kaladkarin ka
rin
Di ko aakuin ang sa’yo
Basta’t iyong iyo na ang sa akin
Koro
Kunin mo na
At ito’y ibulsa
Lahat ay inaalay ko sa’yo
Puso’t isipan
Lahat ng kailangan
Pangarap at musika
II
Paano ko ba sasabihin sa iyo
Ang araw at gabi ay kukulangin
Di sapat ang ‘sang
tanangbuhay
Para ‘yong mawari na
minamahal kita
Ref2
Sisikapin kong mapadama
sa’yo
Pagibig na wagas at di
magbabago
Papaligayahin lang kita
hanggat humihinga ako
Ang buhay ko ay sa iyo
Koro
Kunin mo na
At ito’y ibulsa
Lahat ay inaalay ko sa’yo
Puso’t isipan
Lahat ng kailangan
Pangarap at musika
—
Mr. Gomez works at the Campus Ministry and Service Office at Xavier School in San Juan, Metro Manila. He’s also a self-taught choral conductor on the side.
Poetry by Erika Navaja | July 27, 2014
Think of this, poet,
when you write down your little truth:
We pry our heads open with a knife
and spill out the brain on a tin plate,
and pass it on to four or five people
squatting on the bamboo floor.
We sprinkle salt
onto the red nebula,
Have to offer them vinegar
with kisses of a million chili peppers, too.
What we’ve given out may not do much
than to fill their mouths
and trim their bodies
into thin bamboo sticks,
but one thing’s for sure:
We offer something new
in this universe of plates,
appeal to those wide-eyed
who rarely have such a feast.
They all sure take our red cosmos in,
and think of black heaven
in a country of lost fish heads.
Think of this, poet,
when you write down your truth.
—
Erika Navaja works in a call center and is in love.
Nonfiction by Loraine Jo | July 27, 2014
I stood outside our house, waiting for my best friend. I was holding a Tupperware of spaghetti and salad, which Nanay prepared last night for Noche Buena, and a white Coca-cola shirt from Ate. I guess the weather was moody on Christmas. It was a bit indecisive. It rained at dawn and became gloomy in the morning. Then it was sunny and rainy at the same time in the afternoon. I could almost inhale the mixture of dust and rain. It irritated my nose. If I was still a kid, for sure one of the elders would shout at me from the window to get inside for I might get a fever. The raindrops were getting bigger. I decided to go inside the house and get an umbrella. The umbrellas were neatly placed behind the house’s front door. I chose the white one with a blue floral design. I went back outside. Raymond finally arrived three minutes later. He was my best friend for eight long years and one of the reasons why I did not hurry in getting myself into a relationship. He brought me to movie houses at least once in three months. He bought me mefenamic acid whenever I had my period. He would come to my place on weekends and ask permission from my Tatay and Nanay if we could stroll around the neighborhood for the night. He was tall, skinny, and beautiful. He was the most beautiful gay guy in the world.
Poetry by Mark Arlo Segundo | July 27, 2014
Pilua
ang habol
niadtong milabay
nga gabhiona.
Haw-ana
ang tapis
ug lilia
ang silahis
sa sanga-sanga,
motungha
sa imong bintana
Hinay-hinaya,
kutaw-kutawa,
lisu-lisua ang kutsarita.
salura ang gaasong
timbaya ning
kabuntaga.
Tunob,
ayaw kahadlok
sa paghaguros
ning adlawa.
Wala sa mugna
nga numero
sa Bandera
o sa badlis
anang kamota
ang agian
mong
bahada
ug subida.
Tiwasa
Hantod sa pagbagting
sa saktong taknaa.
Kon
Hagbong karon
Antoson.
Ugma puhon
Padayon
—
Born in Davao City and raised in General Santos City, Mark Arlo Segundo is third year Medical Laboratory Science student of the University of the Immaculate Conception.