Kon Mamolak Pa

Poetry by | February 16, 2014

Kon mamolak ka’g usab
dili unta paliron sa kusog nga hangin,
dili unta mapopo sa uwan.
Tugoti sa maka-usa pa
nga alirongan kas mga higala
mong buyog ug alibangbang
nga maoy magdala’g kalipay sa oras
nga ikaw mobati’g kamingaw.
Tugoti pud ang adlaw
nga mobusikad, sa tinuod
dugay mo kining gihuwat.
Dili na unta ka motago.
Dili na unta ka mairog
sa pagsugat sa hayag.
Naibot man ko layo kanimo,
sa akong pagkahulog, huwata
ang panahon mamolak pa’g usab
ang imong kasing-kasing.

—
Si Reymond usa ka Social Media Specialist ug journalist, fellow sa Davao Writers Workshop niadtong 2010, og nahigugma sa literaturang Bisaya.

A Heart for Madness

Poetry by | February 9, 2014

(after Paulo Coelho’s Veronika Decides to Die)

Visit my dreams, Veronika,
when you finally decide
to die. Wake me from my slumber
with the melody of your sonatas
behind the echoes of your cries.
Make me mad, make me mad,
if only madness would set me freer
than the rest of the humanity.

I’d love to have the freedom
of whom they call crazy:

the youth who love to taste tongues
without fear of nakedness,

the kids who believe that lizards talk
without fear of whips and pinches,

the man who first said that the earth is round
without fear of rolling down the dark abyss,

the young friar who gave his riches
just to live with beggars

to teach them to talk to birds
and to snakes and to flowers

when the sane do not know
how to listen.

I’d love to have their courage
to show their madness,
for the soul of insanity
is freedom.
Only madmen eat
leftover fried chicken
that the sane call waste.
Only madmen rise up
when the sane keep dreaming.
Only madmen scream to curse
poverty, which the sane
call blessedness.
Nobody’s freer than the madmen
who fear of losing nothing
but their chains.

Veronika, when you finally
decide to die, visit my dreams.
When I wake up, I shall be mad.
I will go to the mountains
to sing, to live, to kill,
to love.

And you will understand.

—
Paul Randy P. Gumanao is a licensed chemist, journalist and literature enthusiast. He was fellow at the 2009 Davao Writers Workshop & 2010 Iyas National Creative Writing Workshop in Bacolod. He writes poetry & fiction.

The Love Letter

Poetry by | February 9, 2014

years from now,
if the stars are still
in the bosom of the gods,
and the moon can still smile
on the beauty of the night,
dust we have become,
we already changed
and beyond our horizon, there
these words find themselves
without a home only a house
to announce their presence–
none of that family embrace
that my heart throbs with yours,
just nothingness, bland strokes,
no warmth that give meaning
to the coldness of materiality,
eventually no music,
wings that give them flight,
over mountains of grief and sorrow,
over the green innocence on the plains,
over the omnipresent waters of our love,
these words,
these etches in the blanket of time
will soon settle
in the dry cold desert
of that eternal memory
that remembers the forgetfulness
of being in love.

—
Artchil C. Daug is an Assistant Professor of the Department of History of MSU-Iligan Institute of Technology. He was born in Iligan City and finished both his AB History and Master in History degrees from the same school in 2004 and 2006 respectively.

Sanayan Lang

Poetry by | February 2, 2014

Sabi ni pareng bert sanayan lang ang pagpatay

Sabi ko naman sanayan lang din ang pag nakaw
Sanayan lang din ang magdadala ng pagkain mula sa handaan
Sanayan lang ang kapalan ng mukha
Sanayan lang din ang uutang at umilag

Sanayan lang din ang kukupit
Sanayan lang din ang gumising ng umaga
Sanayan lang din ang ma late
Sanayan lang din ang hindi magbalik ng barya

Sanayan na din ang fixing
Sanayn lang din ang cheating
Sanayan land din ang waiting
Sanayan lang din ang maging corrupt

Nong malaiit pa ako

Nasanay na din akong pumuslit ng kendi sa tindahan ni aling mimi
Nasanay na din akong kumupit ng barya sa sapatos ni tatay
Nasanay na din akong kumain ng bagoong, noodles at mag-kape
At nasanay na din ang magkaroon ng diabetes at U.T.I.

Sanayan lan din ang managalog, mag-bisaya o mag-englis

Sanay na tayo sa telenobela
Sanay na tayo sa hiwalayan, barilan at romansa
Sanay na tayo sa fast food

Sanayan lang din ang mag-kunwari
”Dahil sa hiya at garbo,Sabi ko vegegtarian ako”
Pinanindigan ko
Nang sumali ako sa retreat…. nagulat ako binigay sa akin carrots, sayote,…walang mayonnaise
Napasubo ako

Sanayan lang din ang magyabang
Sanayan lang din ang gutom at kahirapan
Sanayan lang din ba ang mag-iwan ng pagkain sa hapag na hindi nauubos?
Sanayan na lang ba ang maging mahirap o mayaman?
Sanayan na lang din ang pag-papanday ng kanya-kanyang kasaysayan

Di ka nasanay mahirap sa talaga sa pinas
Sanayan na din ang palingon- lingon,patingin-tingin tingin, pasulyap sulyap
Ikaw !
Anong nakasanayan mo?

—
Si Noy Narciso ay nagtuturo sa Ateneo de Davao.

You Are Not What They Think You Are

Poetry by | February 2, 2014

You are not the
size of the shirt you wear
nor the waistline that you have

You are not the
pimples on your face
nor the wrinkles under your tired eyes

You are not the
tangled hair of your head
nor the crooked front teeth when you smile

You are not the
hurtful words they say
nor the hateful things they think you are

You are the crocus that blooms
beautifully during spring

You are the stars
that shine so bright
when the night sky is clear

You are the sun
that gives life
to everything beneath it

You are the entire
universe to someone
you probably don’t even know it

yet.

—
Sums is currently a 3rd year student at Xavier University – Ateneo de Cagayan

The Boy in the Corner, Part 2

Fiction by | February 2, 2014

Continued from part 1

A week passed. During those days, Tim continued to watch Grim. He noted unusual behavior from Grim. Sometimes, Grim wore a smile, at other times a frown – without any cause. But Tim discovered something more disturbing: Grim talked to himself. Because of how he observed Grim, the other students treated Tim the same way as his subject of interest. Tim didn’t care. He needed, he wanted, to know Grim.

Lunch came. Tim got ready to observe Grim from a distance.

“Notebook, check. Pen, check. Oh, no, he went ahead!”

Tim rushed outside the classroom to check if Grim was still in the hallway. He saw Grim heading downstairs. After letting out a sigh of relief, he followed Grim. Tim went down the stairs and passed by the admissions counter. Suddenly, someone tapped him from the back. He turned around and to his surprise, it was Grim.

“Tim, right?” Grim asked. He looked serious.

Tim didn’t know what to say. He was shocked. No, he was afraid. He was afraid that Grim would do something bad to him. Tim stayed silent. Grim lost his patience and dragged Tim to the restroom. Continue reading The Boy in the Corner, Part 2

USLS Announces the 14th IYAS National Writers’ Workshop

Editor's Note, Events by | January 13, 2014

Announcement from the IYAS workshop:

The University of St. La Salle-Bacolod (USLS) is inviting young writers to submit their application for the 14th IYAS National Writers’ Workshop which will be held on April 20-26, 2014 at Balay Kalinungan, USLS-Bacolod.

Applicants should submit original work: either 6 poems, 2 short stories, or 2 one-act plays using a pseudonym, in one (1) computer-encoded hard copy of entry, font size 12, and soft copies in a CD (MSWord). Short stories must be numbered, by paragraph.

These are to be accompanied by a sealed size 10 business envelope with the author’s real name and a pseudonym, a 2×2 ID photo, and short resume, which must be mailed on or before February 15, 2014.

Entries in English, Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Tagalog or Filipino may be submitted. Fellowships are awarded by genre and by language.

Fifteen applicants will be chosen for the fellowships, which will include partial transportation subsidy and free board and lodging.

This year’s panelists include Rebecca Añonuevo, Grace Monte de Ramos-Arcellana, Genevieve Asenjo, D.M. Reyes, John Iremil Teodoro, and Marjorie Evasco as Workshop Director.

Please submit your application to: Ms. Rowena Japitana, IYAS Secretariat, Special Projects Office, University of St. La Salle, La Salle Avenue, Bacolod City. For inquiries, please email iyasliterary at yahoo.com.

IYAS is held in collaboration with the Bienvenido N. Santos Creative Writing Center of De La Salle University-Manila and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts.

The Boy in the Corner, Part 1

Fiction by | January 12, 2014

The black bells rang. An eerie bong echoed along the dim hallway as a shadow loomed from the rusted gates of the school. The shadow came from the new student, Tim. He was a former student of Eagle Academy, but because of financial problems his parents enrolled him in the Gray Institute.

It was already recess when Tim arrived. The gates were still shut, but from where he stood, he saw figures of what seemed to be, the students of the school. Suddenly, the gates opened; creaking as it’s rusty hinges moved. Tim was nervous. He did not know what to do. He thought of running back home, but because he was well aware of his family’s problem, he chose to go forward. He could not afford to simply waltz away from an opportunity to learn.

Continue reading The Boy in the Corner, Part 1