Browsing items at a used books store in the Naga City People’s Mall, I found Mrs. Estela Anciano’s yellowed copy of the third book of Diwang Kayumanggi* (for Grade 3), which was sold to me at P25.
Smaller than a regular notebook, Diwang Kayumanggi is a treasure trove of Filipino literary works gathered by Juan C. Laya, then kagawad of Suriang Wikang Pambansa and Division Superintendent of Schools.
(I learned from Jao, the seller that Mrs. Anciano was a schoolteacher who sold this and many other old books to her.)
Aside from translations of the works by heroes Jose Rizal and Emilio Jacinto, Diwang Kayumanggi also contains poetry, plays and essays and translations by Filipino literary icons, namely: Jose Corazon de Jesus, Alejandro Abadilla, Lope K. Santos, Severino Reyes and Teodoro Agoncillo.
Published by Inang Wika Publishing in Sta. Cruz, Manila in 1965, it also features the works of Ildefonso Santos, Aniceto F. Silvestre and Lina Flor, among others.
Easily, one of the standout pieces in the book is the poem “Tula” by Ildefonso Santos, a lyric piece in praise of the beauty and immortality of poetry itself.
Allowing “tula” or poem to speak for itself, Santos elevates poetry, praising it to high heavens.
First, poetry says that it is honey, the flower’s nectar, sweet like the rhythm of the song of love:
“Ako’y/ Pulot/ Ng pukyutang/ Dinalisay sa bulaklak;/ Tamis akong dumadaloy—/ Higing,/ Himig/ Ng matinis na tugtuging/ Naglalambing.”
Next, the poem says that it is a sunbeam, which is soft like the beating of the heart:
A poem is Ako’y/ Lambot / Ng lamukot;/ Nipis-sutla/ Ng naluray na silahis;/ Hinhin,/ Yumi/ Ng damdaming talo-saling.
Then, poetry says it is a sculpture—crystal or stone—which captivates anyone who sees it the world over:
“Sa ubod man/ Ng mulawin,/ Sa garing at batong-dapi,/ Ako’y ako—/ Pag nilalik,/ Parang kristal/ Na makinis at makintab;/ Pag nililok,/ Hugis,/ Hubog—/ Gayuma ng/ Luwalhating pandaigdig.”
In the last stanza, poetry utterly declares that it will not die—because it is a ray of light, a star which is eternal:
“Ako’y/ Walang/ Kamatayan./ Ako’y/ Hibla/ Ng liwanag na makulay,/ Maningning na sinag-talang/ Di magato/ Ng kahapon, ngayo’t bukas”, like the name of this book’s owner herself—Mrs. “Estella” (from Spanish “Estrella”) Anciano.
“Pugtuin ma’y/ Di mapugto./ Pagka’t ako/ Ang himala/ Ng lumikha,/ Anino ng kalikasang/ walang hanggan—/ Ako’y buhay,/ Ako’y sining,/ Ako’y/ Tula!”—the poem says it is will not die because it is the miracle of the creator himself, the imprint of the universe—it is poem, it is art, it is life itself.
*Diwang Kayumanggi was the so-called National Language Supplementary Reader for Philippine High Schools commissioned by then Surian ng Wikang Pambansa.
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