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.

The Human Heart Has No Measure: Davao Writers Workshop 2014

Nonfiction by | November 23, 2014

Davao Writers Workshop 2014There are three things I’m pretty sure writers will want at one point or another in their lives: to travel, to better themselves in their craft, and to create something worthwhile. The three are interconnected, if you really think about it. In the short time we spend on this world, it is with great skill (or with great luck) that we acquire the opportunity to gain all three at once. As for me, being accepted into this year’s Davao Writers Workshop was one of those opportunities.

Wanderlust
I had learned of my acceptance into the workshop on the eve of September 27th, exactly a month before the workshop would begin. It seemed so near and so far at the time. A lot can happen in a month. Specifically for me, it was finishing final grades for the first semester and organizing Poetry Night, a poetry reading program that our group NAGMAC (Nagkahiusang Mambabalak sa Cagayan de Oro) held every other month. The latter happened just two nights before I and co-fellow Vel Marie “Mai” Santillan, were to get on an all-night bus ride to Davao for the workshop.

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