Ang Gaba Dili Magsaba

Play by , | August 1, 2010

Characters:
Customer: 17 year-old girl
Saleslady: in her early 20’s

Setting: Shoe section of a department store. There is a life-sized mirror beside a bench. A cashier is located two meters away from the bench.

(Ang customer naga tan-aw sa mga naka-display.)

Customer: I’m gonna buy this na talaga! My friends also told me na this is so bagay sa gown ko. Gosh! I am gonna be the most beautiful debutante, ever! (Mitawag sa saleslady sa iyang tapad) Get a new pair of this sandal nga. I don’t like to try this, baka marami na kasing sumukat nito.

Saleslady: (Pugos nga ni ngisi) Okay ma’am. Hulat lang sa kadali ma’am ha. Tan-awon sa nako sa stock room.

Customer: Don’t make tagal-tagal ha. Ayaw ko ng pinapahintay.

(Nihawa ang saleslady. Naglingkod ang customer ug gikuha sa bag ang iyang press powder. Gibutang niya ang bag sa iyang tapad. Sige na tan-aw ang customer sa iyang relo kay dugay niabot ang saleslady.)

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Kabit

Play by , , | August 1, 2010

In a cafeteria two recent friends meet by chance. Ringgo, who is hard of hearing, has his hearing aid disconnected from his ear. Jords is a ‘ngo-ngo’ who seems to be confident in conversations despite his condition. He is waiting for his new girlfriend, Magda.

Ringgo: (sees Jords from afar and approaches him) Oy! Musta na man ka pre?

Jords: Aw, oki ra kaayo.

Ringgo: Abi ko’g wa na ka’y problema?

Jords: Mao gani. Wala na ko’y problema.

Ringgo: Unsa lagi tong problema preng?

Jords: Wala uy. Amaw.

Ringgo: Unsa man pud latest na balita sa imoha preng?

Jords: Mao japon, trabaho, trabaho.

Ringgo: Kinsa’y kamangon bay?

Jords: Samuka ba! Tarong ba!

Ringgo: Aw. Lamokon bitaw diri bay.

Jords: Wala’y lamok uy. Aircon man diri sa cafeteria. Mag-sige ra pud ka’g agree.

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Father Leaving

Poetry by | August 1, 2010

Your steps are heavy
like the baggage
you carry and drag
packed with uncertainties.
A flood of tears
drowns this blue hut
as you move out.
Your slouch suggests
how we will be missed
like your breakfast value meals,
the crisp of unpaid
water and electric bills,
the bittersweet song
of Totoy wailing for milk,
and the spicy blaspheming
of mother at your crucified God
for putting nothing
but salt in our rice.
I wonder how time
will fly without you
as you fly too
towards Saudi
where you will scrub toilet
bowls and urinals in exchange
for our bright future.
I wonder who will cradle
my face when my eyes turn
misty in times like this –
the way I have been meaning
to put this poem
out of its misery.

—-
Gino Dolorzo from Cagayan de Oro was a fellow at the Davao Writers Workshop this year.

Stares and Silences

Nonfiction by | July 25, 2010

I used to live in Tabon-Tabon, a remote barrio in Tandag — a place where people wake up early to the crowing of roosters and the coming of dawn. People here wash clay pots at a nearby well, chop logs for fire behind their homes, and carry shovels, rusted sickles, and enough food and water to last the whole day in the farm. Early each morning, men and some women walk in a ceremonial procession — a troop of farmers in layers of thick coats, torn jeans, boots, and mud-dried palm hats. Men drill ostentatiously on the narrow paths along irrigations to separate their own portion of rice land.

Continue reading Stares and Silences

Dakong Liki

Poetry by | July 25, 2010

Sa imong paglili,
napuno ko sa kakulba,
sa kanerbyos ug sa kabalaka.
basin kon makita mo
ining dako kong liki,
di na ko nimo undangan;
maganahan ka’g kulkog,
hangtod sa di na nimo lun-an.

Sa imong paggunit,
dyutay pangurog
ang akong nabati.
misamot sukad imong
gibasa ug gipaslakan
gamit ng gahi mong butang.
singot pay ako
di gayod mabangbang.

Sa imong pagduot,
kangulngol akong nabatian
gitusok mo ning
liki’g pinakalit,
Aguroy! Perte na lang gayod kasakit!
Uyog nganhi, uyog ngadto
Pastilan… Kalami!

Hay na lang dok, salamat,
naibot ra gyud ning ngipon
sa bungi.

—
Si Reymond estudyante sa Ateneo de Davao University.

Tumong

Poetry by | July 25, 2010

ang mga bitoon
wala baya’y timon

ang bulan wala
say layag

apan kabalo
sila asa paingon

paspas ang pagtagbo
sa kagabhion

—-
Si Ric S. Bastasa usa ka huwes sa Dipolog City.

Panaw sa Ilalom sa Ulan sa Lawod nga Dagat

Poetry by | July 25, 2010

Panaw sa Ilalom sa Ulan sa Lawod nga Dagat
by Ric S. Bastasa

milabay ta sa mga batong
bungtod nga
opaw, sa sakayan nga
walay layag

wala nato damha ang
kusog nga ulan
pagkadagko sa lusok
nga nangahulog
sa aping sa dagat

apan mas dagko ang
sa imo

wa na ko mahikurat kabahin
anang mga mais
nga luha sa langit nga
gitisok sa
lapad nga dughan sa dagat

ang akong nahihumduman
mao lamang nga
init kaayo ang tambutso sa
baroto og duro nakong
hawid sa katig

—-
Si Ric S. Bastasa usa ka huwes sa Dipolog City.

Bukambibig 2010

Events by | July 20, 2010


Bukambibig 2010, the poetry reading series of the Davao Writers Guild, will have a public performance on July 22 (Thursday) at Gaisano South (Ilustre) 5/F Entertainment Center. Event starts at 6 PM. Special guests are Tita Lacambra-Ayala and Aida Rivera Ford.

Bukambibig will also be heard on Blue Knight Radio through Mellow Touch (94.7MHz DXLL) on July 27, 29, and 31, from 11:00AM to 11:45AM.