Day 6 (for November 6) of the #NaNoPoblano2021 challenge, here we go! Major Theme: “A Few of My Earliest Things”. Sub-theme: “10 of My Earliest Poems”. You can find more of my poems (written from high school up to, well, now) at the POETRY NOOK.
I haven’t had time to translate my Filipino poems. I’m a bit disappointed because I think they are much better than my English ones. Anyway, until I am able to translate, I will post the English ones. Like this one.
Reblogging because (1) I like his idea, (2) it’s a nice interview, and (3) It’s Mr. Pinkoe for real! (except he loves yellow, it seems)
My friend, sob, and I recently reconnected over Instagram (hey, find me @melissakandel!) and it made me want to repost this interview I did with him several months ago. I publish this not only to celebrate our Insta-friendship but also in commemoration of his most recent milestone, hitting 20k followers! Enjoy!
We met in the most unexpected way. And while I guess great love affairs do often spring from the auspiciously unusual, I’d suspect none involve quite so much dog poop as this.
In the thick of Sunset Boulevard, just a hint from The Standard hotel, there’s a little dog park chiseled into a hill, accessible by two sets of stairs guarded at their very top by a blue-painted guitar standing sentinel at the entrance. Egyptian mummies are painted all along this guitar and on a warm, early morning in June I imagined that looking at the guitar was about as creatively inspired as…
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Sa pagsibol ng bukang-liwayway,
naging masigasig Ang Manlalakbay
tumahak, gumuhit ng kanyang landas
sa mundong pilit na tinutuklas.
Daang bundok ang siyang inakyat
tinawid, malalawak at malalim na dagat
unos, sakuna, sakit ay bumadya
upang ilihis sa kanyang tadhana.
Maraming beses mang ibinuwal
ang kanyang katawa’t isipang pagal,
nagpatuloy sa landasing binabagtas
ang pusong magiting na di kumupas.
Ang Manlalakbay, pilit sumulong
bigat ng mundo’y kanyang sinuong
di nagpagapi sa bawa’t panganib
iwinaksi ang anumang bumalakid.
Sadyang may puso’t tapang na taglay
ang di-matinag na manlalakbay
sa bawa’t pagkatalo, ito ay bumangon
inalay ang buhay sa bawa’t hamon.
Kaya’t sa pagsapit ng dapit-hapon,
lugod na humarap sa Panginoon
sa diyos na Siya ring lubos umalalay
umakay, humawak sa kanyang kamay.
“Ninais ko ang buhay na masaya
at sa Iyo, ako‘y sumampalataya
nguni’t mga daan ay naging matinik
baku-bako at sala-salabit.
Gayunpaman, aking napagtanto,
lahat ng pagsubok ay ginto
na biyaya sa dulo ng daan
pagka’t Ikaw ay aking matatagpuan.
Ano ba ang tunay na kaligayahan?
ang mabuhay nang may kabuluhan
ang humarap nang walang takot
sa mundong puno ng galit at sigalot.
Ang umibig sa kapwa nang tunay
umakay sa kanilang mga napilay
ng iba at sarili nilang pagdaranas
tungo sa kaligayahang wagas.
Ngayong ako’y naririto na,
nawa’y patnubayan Mo po sila
mithiin ng puso, akin nang nakamit
humimlay, sa wakas, sa Iyong dibdib.”
Lumuhod, lumuha nang may galak
Ang Manlalakbay sa Kanyang hapag:
“O, Diyos na makapangyarihan sa lahat,
ako’y lubos na nagpapasalamat!”
Di-mawari ng puso ang kanyang kawalan
ng damdaming sa hinuha’y hiningi ng pagkakataon,
hinihingi ng panahon.
Ano ang pagkakamali? ang nararapat? ang ninanais?
Pinilit kong dinggin ang sigaw ng kunsensya
at ako’y nagulat sa aking nakita.
Hindi pala.
Ang manhid ay may damdamin din pala,
nakatago sa ulap ng mga alinlangan
at ulan ng suliranin.
At nalaman kong sa kawalan ng damdamin,
tumitibok pa rin ang kanyang puso.
Hindi ko alam.
Paano nga ba?
paano magpatawad?
paano magpatawad sa sarili
sa pagkabigo bilang isang ina?
Paano mawawaglit ang sakit na narito
kung sa bawa’t araw, ang bawa’t araw
ay naglalaman ng iyong alaala, mahal ko?
kung ang bawa’t tibok ng puso ko
ay nagsasabing sa iyo’y tuluyang naglaho?
Paano?
kung sa bawa’t “Kumusta?” ay “Mabuti” ang tugon ko
gayong ang bawa’t tugon ay may halong kirot?
Sinungaling…
Paano?
…Siguro, may mga bagay na sadyang di natin masasagot.
Hindi ko alam.
Hindi lamang sa ngayon.
Darating din ang araw na masasagot ko kung paano.
Umaasa pa rin ako.
Isang araw ay babalik ka sa piling ko.
Hindi man ngayon. Maghihintay ako.
Hanggang mayakap kita, mahalikan kita, at masabing
“Pinapatawad ko na ako.”
**********************************************
Sanay ay nagustuhan ninyo. Ang lahat ay nanggaling sa puso ko.
Ang mga tulang ito ay nagsisilbing lahok sa Saranggola Blog Awards 8. Sasali rin sana ako sa Maikling Kuwento pero kulang na ang oras ko.
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It’s amazing how inspiration strikes us when we least expect it. I was checking out posts on Facebook the other night when I happened on a friend’s that was actually posted hours ago. Let’s call her “L”. She shared to us beautiful love letters exchanged between her parents at the time when they were living in a different world.
I was inspired because not only did one letter, in particular, touch me, but I am reminded of the beautiful love between another wonderful woman and her husband, who has recently passed away while she lived in that different world as well.
I am sharing these notes/letters, the first immediately below, as they have basically given us their permission to do share.
L’s parents were behind bars for a reason: they were political detainees during the Martial Law period. Anyone who has ever lived in those days know how it is to actually live in fear almost day by day. And anyone who has ever cared to listen to stories and do their own research would, at least, get an idea and know. It’s sad when young people nowadays say that those dark days were the best days in Filipinos’ lives. They have no idea…Oh, but this isn’t supposed to be a political commentary or anything.
Above is one of the letters L shared, from her mother to her Mahal (Love). I like this the best among the stuff she posted. It says,
“Tho’ you’re shut out from the world behind those bars, I hope that you find joy knowing thru this card that I love you. Time, like a whirlpool, used to dig so fast into the deep waters until you came and I had to cry for every moment to tarry a little while that I may fully savor the happiness of loving you…we’ve struck the gold hidden in each other’s heart. How deeply I love you but how inadequate the words…”
Oh, to hear such words!
These next ones are from, again, the blogger whom we know as Rara a.k.a. Rarasaur. You may already have an idea of who she is. Or at least, you might have found my recent post “Why Rarasaurs Make Bad Inmates“.
Rara and husband Gray seemed to have the kind of relationship many would like to have. I guess, like every other relationship, they had their issues between them, but obviously, the love they had for each other was much, much more than enough to make up for those insignificant times. Their love was as big as the biggest star that he aspired to find and give her. He was the biggest star that kept her going during the lowest times in her life, when she was behind bars. He still is the biggest star to guide her now as he watches over her from above.
This is the caption for this flower sketch sent her by Gray: “I planted these flowers for you, Ra. On a stretch of public road. Go ahead and rest on them. They are strong enough and carrying you is like carrying light. Really loud, overly-caffeinated light.”.
Doesn’t that make you fall in love, too?
How about this note below, one of many he left her to find after he has gone? Brief but sweet, even with an F-word (he he):
When my husband and I weren’t married yet, we had this little notebook on which we wrote our love letters. He’s not much of a writer, yes, but he tried. You can very well guess who wrote the longer ones…Gray and Rara make me want to do something like that again. Maybe I will.
Alas! (does anybody still say ‘alas’???) I can only strive to be as good and eloquent a writer as the one who wrote these last stuff I am sharing. If you’re not Filipino, there’s a very big chance you do not know him.
He is the late Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino, Jr., husband to the late Pres. Corazon “Cory” Aquino who led the historic People Power Revolution, father to our current president who inherited his name. Like L’s parents, he also became a Martial Law political prisoner and it is widely believed that his assassination in 1983 had to do with his very brave and public stand against the Marcos regime. I am mentioning him here, though, for the beautiful letter and poem he wrote for his beloved Cory.
His farewell letter to her is long and I am not sure if I’d be allowed to post it in verbatim. So I give to you a link. Kindly CLICK HERE. Meanwhile, Ninoy wrote a moving poem for her as well. Years after his death, artist Jose Mari Chan made a song out of it.
This is I Have Fallen in Love (With the Same Woman Three Times)
This poem and all of the other thing shared here only tell us one thing: if you love somebody, let him/her know NOW. Do not delay for you never know when it’s time for one of you to leave. Do not hesitate. Savor your time together. Love for it is the best feeling in the world!
When it comes to stating my views, I can be a very passionate person. You can get a glimpse of that once in a while from my Facebook account, if we’re buddies. But lately, I have been trying to not say anything. The ISIS executions, the Charlie Hebdo incident, and now, the Fallen 44.
I so have my opinions on them but I have refrained from saying anything because it is not going to solve anything. I do not anymore want to spread the negativity further. What we need is to pray to whoever is our personal god for peace.
DON’T BE AFRAID TO HATE RELIGIOUS HATE!
HATE ANY KIND OF BIGOTRY AND INTOLERANCE!
But let us SPREAD THE LOVE.
This is my first post for February. In observance of its significance, I am posting things in relation to love this month. I start with this poem I wrote maybe months or a year after 9/11:
Where white crows dwell,
there, I shall dwell
with my humanity
faithful and true.
Sacred.
Cloaked in
Freedom.
Love.
Hope.
So take me, my friend
to the sanctuary of the free
to the land I know so well
in my mind, where white crows dwell.
Copyright © J.Gi Federizo
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EDIT: “Where White Crows Dwell” was first published in The Makata in November 2004, three years after it was written as a reaction to the 9/11 attacks and based on a local saying that literally translates to “When crows turn white; when herons turn black,” implying a pessimistic outlook. The poem, though, somehow reserves a more positive point of view – however hard it may seem, all things are possible.
Image from WorlWideHD.com
She glides through the night
like a specter in the mist,
silent to the world
lest caught in the war she waged.
She slides through the night
silent and unseen,
yet he hears her, sees her…
smells the very sweet scent of her.
Her touch may very well define
the meaning of his existence;
her eyes may very well hold
his soul suspended in a dream.
She is real to him who sees her
as he drowns himself in the wonder of her myth.
Copyright © by J.Gi Federizo
Inspired one day, I felt like writing a poem in relation to my fiction that was originally titled MITOS and is now temporarily called MAYA. The poem was an experiment, a sonnet without the restrictions, hee hee. I just followed the 14-lines rule. I am not sure if it’s still going to be a part of the story, nevertheless…Meanwhile, I am currently writing the next, long-awaited scene (long-awaited by me, at least).
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