The Writer of Our Discontent

Mayong maogmang persona sa mga obra ni Frank Peñones, Jr. Kun igwa man ngaya, mabibilang ta sana sa muro an magayagayang mga tema sa saiyang mga rawitdawit. Bako man nin huli ta gabos sainda nagmumundo kundi nin huli ta an kadaklan sainda igwang dakulang disgusto sa mga bagay sa palibot ninda.

In 2010, Bikol poet Frank Peñones, Jr. (FPJ)
considered that the plethora of Bikol literature,
flowing from the current output of individual writers altogether
contribute to the flowering of the Bikol literature.

Gabos sainda igwang mga isyu—igwang mga reklamo. Partikularmente, kadaklan sainda, dai kuntento, o masasabi tang mayo nin kaogmahan sa mundo. Sa manlaen laen na rason. Kun ano-anong kadahilanan—alagad ta sa kadaklan na beses, nin huli ta sinda nadada’tugan, natutu’makan, o nasasaniban.

Normal man sana ini—kun susumahon ta o kun hihilingon ta an palibot kun sain nabuhay si Frank Peñones, Jr. Nabuhay si Frank Peñones, Jr. (FPJ) bako man gayong harayo sa palibot na pig-itokan kan kinaban kan saro pa man na FPJ—an artistang si Fernando Poe, Jr.

Puwede ta nganing sabihon na an duwang FPJ—duwa katao, sarong pangaran—nin huli man sana ta tibaad pareho an karera ninda sa buhay. Magtao nin boses sa saradit, sa inaapi, sa dinuduhagi, sa mayo nin lugar sa kinaban na ini.

Mala ngani ta sa enot na tataramon ni Paz Verdades Santos sa Cancion can Tawong Lipod, an panduwang poetry anthology ni Frank Peñones, Jr. na paluwas pa sana, nasilag kan Bikolista kun pa’no siya nagpumirit na ipadangog an saiyang tingog sa saiyang mga kahimanwa dangan man sa gabos na Pilipino.

Sa nasambit nang koleksyon, sinaro-saro ni Frank Peñones, Jr. an pagbubuyboy niya sa mga isyu kan saiyang banwa. Gamit an manlainlain na persona sa saiyang mga tula, tinawan duon ni Frank Peñones, Jr. an balor kan paghiling kan mga Bikolano sa saindang sadiring dila, na nangangahulugan nin pagrumpag kan mga institusyon arog kan gobyerno, simbahan asin ano man na status quo.

Sa kadaklan niyang mga obra, tinuya-tuya niya an mga yaon sa poder. Binunyag niya an mga anomaliya kan mga poderosong abusado arog kan academya, kamara asin pulisiya.

Sa mahahamot na rima sagkod mga paghorop-horop sa nagkapirang buhay kan saiyang mga persona, hinalayhay niya sa madla an bata kan sosyedad na minaratak sa derechos kan ordinaryong Bikolano.

Ano daw ta igwang kung anong kamunduan sa kada tingog na pinapataram sa mga obrang sini ni Frank Peñones, Jr.?

Feeling Good

Birds flying high; you know how I feel

Sun in the sky;  you know how I feel

Breeze drifting on by; 

you know how I feel

It’s a new dawn; 

it’s a new day,

It’s a new life for me

and I’m feeling good

Fish in the sea;

you know how I feel

River running free;

you know how I feel

Blossom on the tree;

you know how I feel

 

Dragonfly out in the sun;

you know what I mean, 

don’t you know

Butterflies all having fun;

you know what I mean

Sleep in peace 
when day is done;

that’s what I mean

And this old world is a new world;

and a bold world for me

Stars when you shine

you know how I feel

Scent of the pine

you know how I feel

Oh freedom is mine;

and I know how I feel 

It’s a new dawn; 

it’s a new day,

It’s a new life for me

and I’m feeling good

Words and Music 

by Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse

1965

Kadakul Mga Sementadong Agihan sa Ateneo de Manila

Kadakul mga sementadong agihan sa laog kan Ateneo de Manila.

Kadakuldakul igwang sasakyan na nagraralaog sa campus, alagad kadakul man an pwedeng agihan kan mga nagralalakaw na arog ko. 

Sa arog kong naglalakaw palaog sa eskwelahan na ini, igwang halaga an mga agihan na ini. Kun palaog pa sana ako dangan maduman ako sa bagong Rizal Library, pwede akong mag-agi sa Gate 3, kun saen makurbada an sementadong agihan parani sa mga edipisyo kan Ateneo, pabalyo sa University Drive, pirang lakad na sana sa tugsaran kan Rizal Library. 

Kadakuldakul puwede kong agihan sa palibot kan eskwelahan. Sa mga agihan na ini, nasususog ko an mga opisinang pwede kong dumanan; dangan an mga transaksyon sa mga opisinang kaipuhan kong tapuson. Igwang mga sementadong agihan hali sa canteen pabalyo sa Faura Hall, hali sa bagong Library paduman sa lumang Rizal Library; dangan man hali sa Registrar’s pasiring sa Pangilinan Center for Student Leadership.

Marahay-rahay an ginibo kan Ateneo administration para sa mga arog kong pedestrian. Pigrala’gan ninda nin kadakul na aagihan sa campus ta nahiling nindang kadakul na estudyanteng nagraralakaw. 

Magayon magparalakaw sana sa laog kan campus kan Ateneo de Manila. 

Marhay siring man an naisip kan administrasyon na magtanom nin mga dakul na kakahuyan sa tahaw kan maribok na Katipunan area sa Loyola Heights. An kadaklan na building digdi yaon sa tahaw kan mga dakul na kakahuyan na garo man sana kadlagan. Pag-agi mo sa garo sadit na kadlagan na ini, dai mo maririsang yaon ka sa siyudad. 

Pagkatapos kong maagihan an sadit na kadlagan na ini, maaabot ko na an mahiwas na football field, ­harani diretso paluwas sa Gate 2, kun saen pwede akong maghalat nin jeep ukon taxi paluwas sa Katipunan.

Paglakaw-lakaw ko sa mga agihan na ini, mamamate kong yaon palan ako sa sarong trangkilong lugar—sa lindong kan nagkapirang mga narra asin acacia, marurumduman ko kun saen na ako nakaabot, dangan mapag-iisip-isip ko kun saen naman ako maduman.

Dai nararayo an mga istrukturang ini sa natura kan sakong ginigibo ngonyan.

Sa laog kan library kan Ateneo, kadakul akong nagkakarabasang mga scholars sagkod writers na pwede kong susugon ta nganing magkaigwa nin direksyon an papel na sakong susuraton dangan kaipuhan tapuson sa lalong madaling panahon. 

An mga ideyang nagkakabarasa ko iyo man an magiya sako kan ano man an pwede kong ihiras o ilantad sa  sakong papel ngapit. 

Ms. Doreen Fernandez

Sa “Research in the Highways and Byways: Non Traditional Sources for Literary and Other Research” ni Doreen Fernandez, kadakul an pwedeng susugon kan scholars na arog ko kun pa’no makukua an mga impormasyon na pwedeng pag-adalan.

Susog ki Fernandez, dawa yaon na kita sa panahon nin internet, kaipuhan ta man giraray bweltahan an fieldwork na iyo an mga enot na pamaagi nin pagkalap nin impormasyon para sa satong project, literary man o bako. Kadakul-dakul an pwedeng agihan ta nganing malaog an kinaban na pag-aadalan.

Saro na digdi an pakikipag-ulay  mismo sa mga tawo, na pwedeng magtao nin yaman kan eksperyensya sa kung anong tema. Yaon man an mga sightings o idtong mga daan nang mga dokumento o materyales arog kan mga peryodiko, souvenir programs, o mga noticia kan KBL (kasag binyag libing) kan mga tawo sa sarong lugar asin iba pa. 

Susog pa ki Fernandez, orog na igwang pakinabang idtong mga daan nang mga vocabulario (dictionaries) na pwedeng makua sa sarong lumang harong. Sa ganang kanya, ini an mga pamaaging sinusog ni Fernandez kan sinundan niya an pag-adal kan native drama sa akademya.

Sarong padabang maestra sa Ateneo si Doreen Fernandez. Dawa mayo na ngani siya, an tinunton niyang agihan iyo an naggigiya sa nagkapira niyang estudyanteng ngonyan nagtuturukdo na man digdi sa Ateneo.

Siring man, sa Brains of the Nation: Pedro Paterno, T. H. Pardo De Tavera, Isabelo De Los Reyes and the Production of Modern Knowledge ni Resil Mojares, tinunton kan mahigos na Cebuano scholar na ini an mga agi-agi kan nasabi nang tolong ilustrado na kontemporanyo ni Jose Rizal kadtong turn-of-the-century Philippines.

Susog ki Mojares, sa dakilang balimbing na si Pedro Paterno asin sa siyentipikong si Trinidad Pardo de Tavera masisipat kan iskolar an mga klase nin pag-ako kan mga Pilipino sa kolonyal na mananakop na Kastila sagkod Amerikano.

Susog ki Mojares, ano an dalan na inagihan ni Paterno? Ngonyan na panahon, dai man nanggad siya bisto sa pahina kan satong kasaysayan apwera na siya an sinasabing Dakilang Balimbing sa istorya kan banwang Filipinas. 

Ipinangaki na Chinese mestizo, nag-istar si Paterno asin nag-adal sa Espanya; nakiamigo sa mga maimpluwensyang Kastila; dangan nabuhay na Espanya sa kwarta kan pyudal na palakaw kan saindang mga kadadagaan digdi sa Pilipinas.  Kan mawa'ran na nin poder an Kastila na haloy man na panahon niyang inadalan, sinerbihan dangan linangkaba, nagpakupkop tulos si Paterno sa mga impluwensya kan mga Amerikano asin ta nagin pang tagapamayo kan Malolos Congress dangan miembro kan First Philippine Assembly. 

Arog ni Rizal, halangkaw an pinag-adalan ni Paterno; alagad ta an gabos niyang napag-adalan iyo man sana an nagpugol saiyang dai maghulagpos hali sa poder kan regimeng Kastila.

Saro man na maray na linalang na luminakaw sa daga si Trinidad Pardo de Tavera. Kan siya nagin doktor pagkatapos mag-adal sa Pransya, dakul an sainyang nailagda na mga publikasyon bako lang manongod sa medicina, kundi patin sa mga aspeto historical kag kultural kan satong bansa. 

Alagad siring man kan ibang miembro kan mga landlord class kaidtong panahon, asimilasyon sana kan kultura kan mananakop an muya ni Pardo de Tavera asin bako man nanggad totoong katalingkasan kan Pilipinas. Palibhasa edukado kan Sulnupan an duwa, dai ninda malikawan an gabos na pinag-adalan na naglalangkaba sa banyaga asin an sociedad na saindang ma'wot na dai marumpag. Kan uminarabot an mga Amerikano, dai sinda nin ibang alternatibo kundi magluhod, mag-arang, magsamba sa bagong kagrogaring kan banwa.

Luwas sa pagigi nindang mga asimilador kan duwang kulturang banyaga, dinara kan duwang ilustradong ini an posibilidad na pwedeng gibohon kan siisay man na Pilipino. Pareho sinda kagsurat kan mga libro sa manlaenlaen na disiplina. Dai matatawaran an saindang tali, an pagkamaalam ninda sa lado nin historia, siyensya asin literatura.

Alagad an kadunungan man sana ninda dangan an kamawotan na makisama sa mga nasa poder an nagpugol ta nganing dai sinda bistohon sa historia kan satong banwa.

Alexander Pope’s Essay on Criticism

Alexander Pope’s Essay on Criticism is a masterpiece of novelty in terms of form and compactness that sums up the neoclassical sentiment on literary theory and criticism. Perhaps prodigious because it was written when he was only 20 years old, Pope’s work contains an epigram by Horace with traces of Quintilian, Boileau and Dryden—which is rather memorable for its brilliant style. Written in heroic couplets, the work revitalizes familiar teachings and makes them sparkle.

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Modern American critic Walter Bate, in an effort to render a topical outline of Pope’s poetics —sums up the Essay under three major topics, which is “by no means intended to attribute an argumentative or reasoned order to the poem.”

The first part compares poets and critics—and comes with pieces of advice for critics— as the general qualities needed by the critic can be found in the first one hundred couplets. After presenting knowledge of nature in its general forms—defining nature which needs of both wit and judgment to conceive it, Pope famously declares—

Learn hence for Ancient Rules a just Esteem;

To copy Nature is to copy Them.

“Classic texts, like Nature are a standard and guide. Their balance, harmony and good proportion are evident in their parts as well as demonstrated in the whole. In other words, Wit is Nature—for it instances something that we have all thought but whose sheer truth the poet now makes compelling through his language:”

True Wit is Nature to Advantage drest,

What oft was Thought, but ne’er so well exprest,

Something whose truth convinces at Sight we find

That gives us back the Image of our Mind. (297–300)

In itself a compendium of critical principles—or a sophisticated, witty poem with much reading and reflection in it, Essay on Criticism showcases Pope’s own view of literary borrowing—thus: Poets, like merchants should repay with something of their own what they take from others, not, like pirates, make prizes of all they meet.”

The neoclassicist creed, according to Pope, therefore is to imitate the ancient authors and to adopt the critical precepts that these authors and their texts embody. Two directions are afforded by this concept of imitation. First is the more self-conscious and restricted side based on authority and passed models that leads to the writing of imitations. Art's first requirement is its direct appeal to reason or pasion.

Second has to do with the broader side that rejects them by placing truth to general nature. The more universal and far-reaching the truth desired or conveyed by art, the closer art comes to fulfilling its primary aim. And as interpreter of Nature, then, the poet must divest himself of the prejudices of his age and country, in order to grasp and disclose general truths, which will always be the same.

 This is followed by the practical laws for the critic in the second part. This includes, for instance, the critic’s prerogative to seek the author’s aim and the critic’s fallibility in mistaking the part of a literary for the whole. Pope tirades critics who do not only come up with partial readings, but also those who are proud and arrogant.

 The third part—essayed out from lines 560 to the end of the concerns with the ideal character of the critic. Perhaps echoing the moral uprightness advanced by the Roman Horace, Pope deems it proper for the critic to have the qualities of integrity, modesty, tact and even courage. This calls for the concern for the critic to be morally liable—which translates that the critic can be the ordinary man—whose uplift is chief concern. 

Renaissance Criticism

Following medieval criticism characterized by spiritual- or allegorical-centered interpretations of literary works—most notably the Sacred Scriptures—Renaissance criticism would return to the Aristotelian and Platonic tenets on art as imitation, with a number of improvements and expansions to accommodate the critical controversies of the period.

With his Apology for Poetry (1595), perhaps a response to the “Schoole of Abuse” by Stephen Gosson, considered a “Puritan attack on imaginative literature,” English nobleman Sir Philip Sidney comes in defense of poetry, earning for him as the quintessential Renaissance sensibility in literary criticism.

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A classical oration with the seven standard parts—the Apology set out to accomplish three tasks.


I.

First, it was written in defense of poetry and its superiority over history and philosophy. Sidney considered poetry to aid toward the “purifying of wit, the enriching of memory, the enabling of judgment and the engaging of conceit.”

For Sidney, poetry has noble roots and serves a noble purpose. Sidney argued that poetry may be found at all times in all cultures, surveying that the famous classical figures from philosophers to historians relied on poetic techniques in writing their works. Sidney considers the prophetic and creative functions of the poet and of poetry, famously declaring that the poet improves upon nature, thus—”Her world is brazen, the poets only deliver a golden.”

Sidney improves on Aristotle in defining poetry as an “art of imitation,” sorting them into three kinds—poetry which imitates “the inconceivable excellencies of God”; poetry which deals with moral philosophy, natural philosophy, astronomical philosophy, or historical philosophy; and those works of “right poets” who “imitate to teach and delight.”

Such definition sets an agenda for the discussion of poetry—allowing for an outpouring of insights into the critical controversies of the period.

Also defending comic poetry, Sidney says that it holds vices up to such ridicule that no one would want to be like the ridiculous, vice-ridden characters portrayed therein. He furthers by saying that much of the Bible is even written in poetic form. For instance, Nathan recalls David (and the reader) to virtue by telling a story. Or Christ teaches by means of parables which“inhabit both the memory and judgment.”

Since the [final] end of [all earthly] learning is virtuous action, Sidney considers poetry better equipped to teach right behavior than either philosophy or history:

For whatsoever the philosopher says should be done, the poet gives a perfect picture of it in someone by whom he presupposes it was done; so as he couples the general notion with the particular example.

While combining the moral precepts of philosophy with the entertaining examples of history, the poetic pursuit cloaks “its lessons with the pleasurable devices of art, rendering it more effective than the first two disciplines.


II.

Second, Sidney’s Apology deals with specific objections raised against poetry. Below are the point-by-point responses of Sidney to the previous attacks charged against poetry since the classical antiquity.

As regards poetry is a waste of time; Sidney counters by asking how can poetry be a waste of time if learning leads to virtue and poetry is the best way to learning? For him, poetry has been the first educator of primitive peoples, which lead them to a more civilized state and a more sensitive receptivity to knowledge of every sort.

Next, against the objection that poetry is the “mother of lies”, Sidney famously declares: “for the poet, he nothing affirms, and therefore never lieth.” Placing poetry outside of the realm of truth and falsehood, Sidney contends that the poet never claims that he is presenting absolute truth in the first place—thus the accusation of falsehood leveled at poetry is merely irrelevant.

As to the claim that poetry is the “nurse of abuse, infecting us with many pestilent desires,” Sidney considers the abuse of any art should not condemn that art—”poetry is not to blame for the abuses committed against it by bad poets.”

Then, essentially, when we realize that poetry was banished from Plato’s imaginary republic—so it must be dangerous—Sidney clarifies that Plato did banish “the abuse, but not the thing. Therefore, by being in a way threatened by its power, Plato rather honored poetry.


III.

The third task set forth in the Apology examines the current state of English literature. more of a broad survey of English literature and rather not a comprehensive blow-by-blow revaluation of works of the time, Apology offers some critical comments on diction, poetic figures, meter, rhythm, rhyme and the English vernacular to other languages.

Significantly, Sidney’s censure of the English drama which failed to adhere to the [overemphasized if not misread] Aristotelian unities of time and place— will further later preoccupy the neoclassical critics of drama, most notably the French Pierre Corneille and the Englishman Samuel Johnson.

On the whole, Sidney’s defense of poesy/poetry—it is said he treats poetry both as having feminine and masculine attributes with reference to both gender qualifiers his and her used in the tract itself—has rendered a number of influences.

First it imposed stricter interpretation of the moral function of art. Put more simply, we are said to s see virtue exalted, and vice punished. Second, the rigid distinction of genres allowed for the classification of the types of literature which will be constantly considered by the generations of critics following.

And finally, Sidney’s adherence and use of his forerunners as cornerstones of his own critical insights acknowledges the pervasive self-conscious awareness of authority and tradition, an issue to be taken seriously by Matthew Arnold and T.S. Eliot in the centuries following.

Medieval Criticism

Literary criticism would not disappear in the Middle Ages. The classical tradition would survive the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, and most of the great Latin authors will remain a part of the cultural tradition of Europe.

The Greek authors, however, will survive only through Latin versions and imitations of their works. For one, Homer’s works would be unknown during the Middle Ages and Aristotle’s Poetics will reach the West perhaps only through mangled versions and derivations.

Yet, some key concepts of classical poetics would be preserved. This would include the Plato’s and Aristotle’s conception of art as imitation and the classification into three basic genres, and the concept of decorum (from Roman admirer Horace).

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The medieval tradition of literary criticism is one of textual commentary of the classics, mostly the Bible and theological writings—which would direct its attention not to the way “works should be, but to the way they are.” The critical tendency would be towards works which are already written and those having religious or moral significance.

Though characterized by a reliance on authority and revelation evident in the emphasis on the study and interpretation of the Sacred Scriptures, medieval criticism would later see the displacement of critical methods “from the sacred to the secular.”Through his number of works in the vernacular Italian and Latin, Italian poet Dante Alighieri (1265–1321) would stand out in the map of theory and criticism to articulate the humanist thought developed in the wake of the twelfth-century Renaissance.

In his “Letter to Can Grande Della Scala,” an introduction to the “Paradiso” from his La Commedia (Comedy), Dante establishes a classification of the elements to be considered in a literary work. Drawn from the Scholastic models of literary prologue, Dante sounds very much like Aristotle:

There are six things then which must be inquired into at the beginning of any work of instruction; to wit, the subject, agent, form, and end, the title of the work, and the branch of philosophy it concerns.

Applying to Comedy the approaches of medieval interpretation, Dante famously writes:

The sense of this work is not simple, but on the contrary it may be called polysemous, that is to say, ‘of more senses than one’, for it is one sense which we get through the letter, and another which we get through the thing the letter signifies, and the first is called literal, but the second allegorical or mystic.

Dante posits that writings can be understood and are meant to be expounded chiefly in four senses—namely: the literal, which does not “go beyond the strict limits of the letter”;allegorical, which Dante calls “a truth hidden under a beautiful fiction”; moral, that for which “teachers ought as they go through writings intently to watch for their own profit and that of their hearers”; and anagogic, or above the senses. The last sense connotes that when a piece of writing is expanded, it ought to “give intimation of higher matters belonging to eternal glory.”

In Il Convivio (The Banquet), Dante says that the surface level and allegorical level are both truthful in theology; while in poetry, only the allegorical level of meaning is true and the surface level is fiction. Here, Dante

Dante’s introductory comments on the Comedy also reveal the medieval conception of the opposition between tragedy and comedy, saying that “tragedy begins admirably and tranquilly, whereas the end or exit is foul and terrible… whereas comedy introduces some harsh complication, but brings its matter to a prosperous end. Therefore, tragedy and comedy therefore differ according to the outcome of the story—they are also considered kinds of fiction, not dramatic genres.

Regarding the purpose of poetry, Dante mentions a possible difference between the proximate and the ultimate ends, but concludes that “the end of the whole and of the part is to remove those living in this life from the state of misery and lead them to the state of felicity.” In this sense, Dante resonates the Horatian dictum that poetry delights and instructs (dulce et utile). Moreover, Dante argues that delight comes not only from ornament, but also from the goodness in the work, which is delightful in itself.

In De vulgari eloquentia (On Eloquence on the Vernacular),a treatise written in Latin, Dante defends his choice of writing in Italian, arguing that serious literature can be written in the vernacular as well as in Latin.

Examining the various Italian dialects and choosing as the ideal vernacular the Sicilian dialect spoken by “people of quality,” Dante also expressed concern on the enrichment of Italian through the borrowing of words, a pursuit which will preoccupy Europe two centuries later.

Championing the importance of the vernacular, a crusade to be taken by Sir Philip Sidney in the Renaissance, Dante listed three possible themes available to vernacular poetry—namely: the state, love, and virtue. While love as a serious theme is a novelty in medieval criticism, Dante would go further to claim that the lyrical song or canzone is the best poetical form. This is the first time such a claim is made, which will perhaps be enhanced if not elaborated by the Romantic poets some five hundred years.

Nothing Writes So Much As Blood

Nothing writes so much as blood.

The rest are mere strangers.

—corrupted from Lawrence Kasdan’s Wyatt Earp, 1994

Dear Mother

Some twelve years ago, when I was working for Plan International Bicol, gathering information from the NGO’s beneficiaries-respondents in the upland barangays surrounding Mount Isarog and the Bicol National Park, I kept a notebook where I wrote the following verse for my mother Emma, who passed away in January 1996.

In that job, I kept a journal wherever I went—perhaps to relive the days with my mother whom I dearly lost during her life [I hardly had time for her when she was sick because my editorship in the college paper ate up my schedule] and tearfully loved after her death [after college graduation, there was not much to do aside from job-hunting and freelancing with media entities around Naga City]. And there was not much reason to hunt for jobs at all because there would be no one to offer my first salary.

The original scribbles below were written on a yellow pad paper.

The Sea House

For Emma, who loved so much

1996

Tomorrow 

I will build a house

by the forest near the sea

where

six palm trees 

will become 

brave bystanders by day—

and 

warm candles by night.

Pride from a Published Poem

After so many versions and revisions, a national magazine then edited by the National Artist for Literature Nick Joaquin—published a longer submission (see below) before the end of the year. The publication of my poem in Philippine Graphic Weekly thrilled me to no end. I felt too lucky to have my [too personal a] sentiment printed in a national publication.

It even seemed like the tribute to my mother was more heightened. For one, she would have loved to see my work printed on a national paper. Sad to say, though, it is my contemplation on her death that would give [her or me] such pride.

The Sea House

Philippine Graphic Weekly, November 1996

I hate to leave really.

But I should go home tonight.

Tomorrow I will build a house 

by the forest near the sea 

where I alone 

can hear my silence.

For it, I gathered six palm trees

stronger than me, to become

the pillars, firm foundations

of my tranquil days to come

which I will not anymore hear.

I know the trees are good 

for they survived many typhoons in the past

which uprooted many others

and which made others bend,

and die.

I hope they become bright lamps

along the black road

where I will pass through 

when I go home tonight.

I hope they’d be there

and that they would recognize me.

And if they don’t, it wouldn’t matter.

I would not want any trees other than them.

For I know they are very good.

But tonight, please 

let them be 

my warm candles.

And when I’m home 

I will be certain:

Tomorrow, I will have built a house

in the forest near the sea where

Every palm tree can hear his silence. 

And the others can listen.

A Reader’s Response

Finding the poem in one of my diskette files when I applied for work in Quezon City and Manila, my brother Mente—perhaps to while away his time in SRTC [his workplace then where I typed hundreds of my resumes] in Kalayaan Avenue back in 1997—must have liked it so much that consequently, he translated it in Bikol, rendering a rather old, archaic Bikol version.

An Harong Sa May Dagat

(Para qui Emma, na sobrang namoot)

1997

Magabat an boot co na maghale,

Alagad caipuhan co na mag-uli 

Ngonyan na banggui.

Sa aga, matugdoc aco nin harong 

Sa cadlagan harani sa dagat,

Cun sain aco na sana an macacadangog 

Can sacuyang catranquiluhan.

Sa palibot caini, matanom aco 

Nin anom na poon nin niyog 

Na mas masarig sa saco, 

Na magiging manga harigi—

Manga pusog na pundasyon 

Can manga matuninong cong aldaw

Na dae co naman madadangog.

Ma’wot co na sinda magserbing 

Maliwanag na ilaw sa dalan

Sa macangirhat na diclom, 

Cun sain aco ma-agui 

Sa sacuyang pag-uli 

Ngonyan na banggui.

Ma’wot co man na yaon sinda duman 

Asin na aco mamidbid ninda. 

Alagad cun sinda malingaw saco, 

Dae na bale. Dae nungca aco mahanap 

Nin caribay ninda, nin huli ta aram co 

Na sinda manga marhay.

Alagad sa atyan na banggui, 

Hahagadon co na sinda

Magserbing manga maiimbong 

Na candela cataid co.

Asin cun aco naca-uli na

Sigurado aco na sa aga

Naca-guibo aco nin harong 

Sa cadlagan harani sa dagat

Cun sain aco na sana 

An macacadangog 

Can sacuyang catranquiluhan.

Asin an iba macacadangog.

My Brother, My Reader, My Writer 

Perhaps having the spirit of the classicists who dearly loved the classical age before them, for one, reinventing an old manuscript to serve their own purposes, Mente made an English version based on his English translation.

Perhaps wanting to relive for himself the memory of our dear mother who was rather fonder of him [than the rest of us], Mente turned in his own masterpiece based on the published poem. Notice how the versification has radically changed—from irregular free verses to a series of couplets—and ending with a one-liner which is supposed to be the poem’s closure.

In the process, the version he rendered would become totally his original work. Comparing his piece with the original published piece, I see that the new work now brims with new meanings and warrants a different, if not disparate interpretation.

The House by The Sea

(For Emma, who Loved So Much)

1997

I leave with a heavy heart 

But I need to go home tonight.

Tomorrow, I’ll build a house by the sea,

Where only I will hear my tranquility.

Around it I’ll plant six coconut trees

Which are stronger than I am.

Trees that will become the stable foundation 

of my quiet days, which I will no longer hear.

Undoubtedly, these coconut trees are of the best quality

Because they have overcome a lot of storm, that uprooted the others.

I want them to light the way through horrible darkness,

Where I will pass when I go home tonight.

I like them to be there and for them to know me

But never mind if they’ve forgotten me.

Nobody can replace them 

Because I know they are good.

But tonight I’ll ask them to be like candles,

Warm, beside me.

And when I am home

I will have surely built a house by the sea 

Where only I will hear my tranquility.

And others will hear it, too.

A Promise to Write (A Poem)

After having undergone a number of literary workshops, I realize that images, symbols and metaphors [if any if at all] I used in the first draft are confusing and too overwhelming—giving it a puzzling dramatic situation. Now, I realize that the poem published in the past and wholly appreciated by my dear brother—with my sister perhaps, my sole readers at the time—carried double and mixed metaphors which rendered the piece fragmented, incoherent and totally not a good poem at all.

And perhaps because it was dedicated to my dear mother, I never subjected this piece to any workshop which granted me fellowships. I submitted other pieces, and not this one, perhaps because I considered the work too sacred to be “desecrated”—or more aptly slaughtered by the write people.

The images in the poem were drawn mostly from emotion, not reason. There was not even a clear use of figurative language or tropes such as metaphor or irony, a fact that would be abhorred by the American New Critics (who espoused that everything that we need to know about the poem should already be in the poem itself—and to the very least, never in the author’s intention, never in my sincerest wish to dedicate it to my mother.