An Mga Taga Bagacay Kun Semana Santa

Sa mga huring aldaw kan Marso, maimbong na an paros hali sa bukid kan Buyo—minahugpa ‘ni sa mahiwason na natad kan eskuwelahan abot sa may parada, asta magsabat ini kan maaringasang duros hali sa baybayon kan San Miguel Bay sa may parte nang kamposanto.

Sa panahon na ini, duros an makapagsasabi kun ano an mga disposisyon kan mga tawo sa Bagacay—kadaklan sainda mahayahay, an nagkapira trangkilo sagkod maboboot, pero an iba man maiinit an pamayo ta kulang—o minsan sobra—sa karigos.

Kun ika tubong Bagacay, pirming malinaw saimo an mga pangyayari sa palibot kan sadit na barangay na ini—an kasiribotan, an kariribukan, o maski ano pa man—aram-aram mo na an mga likaw kan bituka kan mga ordinaryong ka-barangay.

Mabibisto mo an kakaibang parong kan duros, mamamati mo an aringasa sa tinampo ta bantaak an saldang. Mabibisto mo man an korte kan niisay man maski na ngani nagdadangadang pa sana siya sa tinampo. An amyo kan tunay na buhay mahihiling sagkod maiintidihan mo sa lambang istoryang ini.

An aking daraga sa kataid na harong na nagpasuweldo sa Manila maduang taon na man bago nakauli giraray—mapution na an kublit pag-abot ta an tubig sa Nawasa halangkaw an chlorine content—nom! Dai na lugod nabisto kan kaklaseng nagdalaw sa harong ninda. Sa Martes ang balik ko sa Kuba-o. Mabait naman ang mga amo ko—pinapasine nga ako pag Sabado, kasama ko ang kanilang matuang babae. Sa Let the Love Begin nakita ko si Richard Gutierrez saka baga si Angel Locsin, pangit man pala siya sa personal. Nom! Nagtatagalog na! Pag sinisuwerte [o minamalas] ka man nanggad talaga!

An mag-inang parasimba nakaatindir pa kan pagbasbas kan mga palmas. An mag-irinang hali pa sa Cut 12 [basa: kat dose] mapasiring sa kapilya sa boundary pa kan Iraya para duman mapo’nan an entirong pagpangadie sa mga santo. Linakad kan mag-irina an mainiton na tinampo hali sa harong ninda antos duman sa malipot na baybay harani sa kapilya. Nag-uurunganga pa si mga ibang aking kairiba ta pigguguruyod man na yan kan relihiyosang ina. Bara’go pa man an mga bado ta iyo man an ginaramit kan mga eskwela durante kan closing sa eskwelahan—alagad muru’singon na an mga aki

An mga aki kan mga mayaman na pamilya sa may pantalan nag-uruli man. Tulong awto an dara pero dai pa nanggad kumpleto ta si tugang na abroader dai nakahabol sa biahe haling airport. An dakulang pagtiripon kan pamilya madadagos ta madadagos nanggad maski na ngani hururi an ibang miembros kan pamilya. Hain na daw si mga makuapo na nag-ayon sa mga ralaban sa UNC; o si sarong pinsan niya man nanggana sa arog kaining contest sa Colegio. Haraen yan! Padirigdiha lamang daw ta mag-iristorya kan saindang mga maoogmang nagkagirinibo. Ay, iyo, hay, magayonon an trophy sa UNC. May kwarta man ni, ano? Hahahahaha! Iyo man po. Thanks very much and I love you all and gabos ini po saindo, Lola!

Igwang bayaw na nag-uli hali sa siyudad—an agom na iyo an tugang kan pinsan may darang ba’gong omboy na primerong pakadalaw sa mga apuon. Napoon pa sana man an duwa sa pagpapamilya kaya padalaw dalaw pa sa mga magurang kan esposa. Cute-on baga si baby, hay? Sain mo ni Manay pinangidam? Cute-on. Bebe, bebe… O Rosalyn, nuarin na an bunyag ki Nonoy? Imbitari man daw nindo kami, puwede man pating magtubong si Dorcas! Saen na ngani si apartment nindo, Glen? Sa Calauag baga, bakong iyo? Itukdo mo ki Lino tanganing aram niya pagduman. Iyo po, Ma.

Igwang mag-ilusyon na dai makatios na dai magkahirilingan ta si urulayan sa Katangyanan dai nagkadaragos ta pinugulan si daraga kan inang may hilang.

Maski an sarong tiyo-on na igwa pang kulog boot sa mga sadiri niyang tawo ta dai sinda dai nagkairintidihan sa kontratang pinag-urulayan, magkakaigwa pa siya nin panahon para tapuson an ika 14ng altar na portrait kan Mesias—na nagpapahiling kan pagdara kan bangkay ni Mesias sa lubungan ni Joseph kan Arimatea. An mga materyales na ginamit para sa abaanang magagayon niyang obra maestra dinonaran pa man hali sa simbahan kun sain siya lektor. An taon-taon niyang panata napapadagos nin huli sa huyo kan saiyang boot, sa pagpangadie niyang daing ontok, nagngangayong dai man lugod pabayaan nin Kagurangnan an saiyang pamilya na ngonyan nagdadakula na ta an saindang maboot na manugang-agom kan mahigos niyang matua—maaki na kan saindang panduwa. Siisay pa man daw an mas masuwerte sa mga tawong ini?

Nagsisiribot an sarong pamilya sa Banat ta iyo an toka ninda sa prusisyon sa Via Crucis, maharanda ta mapa-basa—mapatarakod nin kuryente sa mga harong na igwang mga linya nin Casureco, para dayuhon an pabas[og]. Aaaaaaa, si Eba natentaran kan demonyong halas kaya kinakan niya si prutas kan poon na ipinagbawal ni Bathala. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, kaya an gabos na tawo nagkasa-la-la-la. Daraha na daw digdi mga salabat sa nagbabarasa-kansubago pa iyan! Aaaaaaa….

Sarong gurangan na kantorang taga Iraya, na agom kan sarong mahigos na Cursillista—sinubol si mga aki niyang daraga para magkanta sa Via Crucis magpoon sa kapilya antos sa Calle Maribok dangan pabuwelta—alagad atakado an pamayo ta dai magkakurua kun haraen na an mga daraga. Haraen na sa Imelda? Si Belinda? Pasugui na daw ta si mga aki duman, iwaralat mu’na digdi. Ta diputang agom yan ni Belinda! Nagpaparainum na naman sa may ka–Tampawak? Ta kun ako pa an mapauli diyan sa bayaw mo, titibtiban ko talaga man nanggad yan! Mayo na sana man maginibo pakakatong-its, mainom! Susmaryosep! Noy, paulia na ngani si Manoy mo!

Sarong parasira pagkatapos niyang magpangke—mala ta nakadakul sinda kan bayaw niya kansubanggi—sa may tanga’ sagkod sa rarom sa may parteng Caaluan sagkod Tinambac—nagdesider na mag-pasan kan krus sa Via Crucis. An solterong ini haloy na man nagsisigay-sigay sa aki ni Balisu’su’. Pero korontra baga an sadiri niyang tawo ta diyata gusto man nindang makahanap nin trabaho ini sa Cavite. Dai man ngani nag-anom na bulan baga—nagbuwelta ngani ta garo nagkairiyo na man sagkod an maputi-putting aking daraga ni Balisu’su’. Ano man baya an nahiling mo diyan Polin sa aki ni Tsang Sining? Bados na gayod si Joralyn?

Ciudad Iloilo

Abril 2009

Pagpuli sa Bagacay

Pag-Deciembre dai ka na puwedeng mag-uli

Sa dakulang harong. Sa mga enot mong aldaw duman,

Matarakig ka sa katre mo pagkakaaga; saka kun magparauran

Na nin makusog, matata’kan ka kan manlaen-laen na bagay—

Mga bintana parasa’, an lanob garaba’, an atop nagtotororo.

Kun magparauran nin makosogon, mahaha’dit ka pa

Sa pagkadakul-dakul na basura—mga dahon saka sanga

Mga bagay, daga sagkod laboy aatongon kan baha kaiba

Kan mga gapo sagkod garadan na manok—na maralataw-lataw,

Tapos mapalibot sa saimong natad.

Maghanap ka na sana nin ibang lugar,

Duman sa mayong duros na mapatakig saimo pagkakaaga;

Duman sa dai ka na maparahadit pa sa kadakul-dakul

Na bagay pag nagparauran na nin makusog.

Ki Agom

Nagtutururo an su’lot mong palda;

Basa-basa an buhok mo; nagbuburulos

An basa sa angog mo,

Saka sa pisngi mo;

Nagtatarakig an ngabil mo;

Mari digdi—nagparasain ka, Ne?

Nagparapauran ka na naman pauli?

‘Tukaw ka digdi;

Hubaa an blusa mong tumtom

Na nin lipot kan uran.

‘Punasan ko an payo mo; ‘paimbungon

Ko an mga kamot mo; ‘painiton

Ko an hawak mo. Nag-aalusuos na

An sinapna ta. ‘Gatungan ko

Ining kalayo ta. Kaipuhan saimo

Igwang bagang dai masisigbo

Dawa’ magparapauran ka pa;

Dawa’ na magparapauran ka pa.

Sa Tigman Kun Maduman Ka

Marambong an mga kahoy patukad sa bulod pababa sa kadlagan pasiring sa salog. Duman pwede kang magkarigos ning huba. Duman pwede kang magturog nin halawig.

Pasiring duman dai ka malingaw na maghuba nin bado ta ‘baad mawara’ ka lang sa dalan—an halas na masasabatan mo mabalagbag sa may tungod kan poon kan santol. Hale ni sa sapa man sana, papuli’ na sa hararom na labot; basug-basog na kan pirang siyo’ na pinangudtuhan niya; dai ka magngalas kun madangog mo an putak-putak kan sarong guna’ sa harayo; tolo na sana kaini an kaibahan na ogbon.

Sige sana. Magdiretso kang lakaw. Siempre mahalnas an dalan ta nahuraw pa sana baga. Maray man ‘yan ta dakul an tubig kaiyan sa salog; makakabuntog ka man nanggad.

Madya! magmadali’ ka ta ‘baad maabutan mo pa si dakulang uwak na minsan nagtutugdon sa sanga kan madre de cacao sa gilid kan salog. Siguro ma-timingan mo an gamgam na ining minsan nagdadakop nin mirapina o puyo sa hababaw na tubig kan salog. Haloy ka na sigurong dai nakahiling nin uwak; o magsala’ an manuparan mo lapay, tikling, o tagkaro: mga gamgam an mga bura’ nag-aapod nin gadan.

Sige, lakaw lang. Harani ka na; hilinga baya’ an agihan mo ta ‘baad mahawi mo an sapot kan lawa—obra maestra nin saday-saday na nilalang; mismong ika ‘sakitan marirop kun pa’no nagibo, bako ta sadit an hayop na ini, kundi ta an utak mo mas dakula sa saiya. Dai baya’ pagrauta an harong niya, ‘baad ika an maenot na masapot para kakanon niya.

Pag nakaabot ka na sa may dakulang gapo’, magtabi-apo ka nin tolong beses, garo baga palaog mo ini, permisong makalangoy sa salog na dakul na mga bagay o tumata’wo an may kagsadiri—digdi pwede kang magkarigos ning huba, ta an mga yaon duman mayo man nin mga gubing.

Maray man ta’ mayo ka nang bado’; arog ka na ninda, saro sa mga hayop kan magayon na kadlagan—ano pa an hinihiling-hiling mo diyan?

A, nahahambugan ka kan tagkarit na aba’ anang garo hade sa asul niyang balukag; nakatugdon sa sanga kan kamagong, tinutungkahal an saiyang kahadean poon sa may salog asta sa ampas. Dai ka magngalas ta ika saro sana niyang bisita. Magtaong-galang ka.

Siguro nadadangog mo na an duli-duling garong dagang nakadukot sa poon kan pili; maging alerto ka ta pag ‘yan nagbura’ na siguradong pupukawon an natuturog mong kalag [maski ngani mayo ka].

Hilinga an salog. Sa may libtong magayon maglangoy ta’ an tubig hararom. Malipot an tubig sa tiripon na raratang dahon. Ano na? Naghahalat na saimo an hararom na imbong kan tubig kataid mo an ribo-ribong noknok saka layug-layug; malataw-lataw ka, dangan iduduyan sa mahiwas na salog; para magpahingalo o maghingalo, para makaturog na nin halawig.

Sige na, Noy, dai ka na maghanap nin shower room; nauranan ka na baga; puwede ka nang magbuntog tulos.

Tagbang na!

Ateneo Serrado

Serrado an Ateneo pag-abot mo. Mayong tawo. An guardia sa tarangkahan dai mo bisto. Mabisita ka sa sarong pading dai nag-uli pag bakasyon. Pero mayo daa siya. Pero pinadagos ka.

Hali sa guardhouse nahiling mo an Four Pillars may bago nang pintura. Nagduwaduwa kang maglaog ta garo dai mo aram kun Ateneo man nanggad an linaogan mo. Pininturahan ni nin kolor na garo man lang bagong shopping mall sa Centro. Nagimatan mo na kayang kupas an pintura kan Four Pillars kaya nataka ka kan nahiling mo.

Saboot mo tapos na man nanggad an mga aldaw kun kansuarin sa façade kan eskwelahan na ini, nagparasad-pasad an magagayon na coed na pencil-cut an mga palda—yaon ka duman sa hagyanan kairiba si Emil, Bong sagkod Gerry, iniiriskoran pa nindo an magagayon na nag-aaragi.

Nagsalingoy ka sa wala. Mayo na an soccer field kun saen kamo nagkaramang sa carabao grass ta may nagpasaway na parehong kadete sa Delta Platoon. An Xavier Hall na dati wooden building pa kaidto na dati man na SIO (Social Integration Office) saro nang konkretong edipisyo. Dai mo na mahiling an Pillars Office kun saen mo pigmakinilya sa bukbukon nang Olympia an enot mong love letter ki Jenny. Huli ta bago, dai mo na ni nabisto.

Nagsalingoy ka sa tuo. Mayo na an mahiwas na grounds kun saen kamo naggiribo nin Belen para ilaban sa Pintakasi. Sa may batibot na ito nabisto mo si Lani, kaklase mo sa Sociology ki Nong Fernandez. Tapos na an Pintakasi kaidto pero dai mo pa nalingawan si mahamison na huyom kan Miss Irigang ini. Totoo man nanggad an cultural myth na pinag-adalan nindo sa subject na ito. Dai pa natapos an semester kadto naprobaran mo na tulos kun ta’no ta an Iriga pamoso sa mga aswang—pirang banggi kang dinuno kan sarong kagayunan na Lani an pangaran. Haen na man daw siya ngonyan?

Naglakaw-lakaw ka. Nagsara-salingoy.

Haen na an gym? A, natahuban na palan kan Xavier Hall Building na bago. Dai mo na tulos nahiling an Blue Knight sa letrang A na enot mong nahiling kan nagpila ka para mag-exam sa First Year High School beinte anyos na an nakakaagi. Pagbalik mo pag-ralaogan, ogmahon kang maray kan mabasa mo na an ngaran mo sa lista kan LG 12.

Mayo ka pang kabisto kaidto kaya pagtingag mo sa façade kan building, nahiling mo an Blue Knight na nakasakay sa kabayo. Hiya! Maski sa kabayo saboot mo masakay ka makauli lang tulos sa Bagacay—iiistorya mo ki Mama mo an marahay-rahay na bareta ito.

Tinahuban na palan kan Xavier Hall Building na bago. Dai mo na mahiling si Blue Knight na tiningag mo kaidto.

Mayo na an dating Ateneo de Naga. Sarong aldaw pagbisita mo, dai mo na ‘ni naabutan. Marayo na sinda. Mayo ka nang mabisto digdi. Dai ka na madagos sa laog. Tibaad ka kaya maanayo. Malakaw ka na lang pabalik sa Avenue.

“Tapos na ang maliligayang araw,” saboot mo sana. Tibaad an Golden Age kan Ateneo de Naga nakaagi man nanggad na. An Four Pillars Lucky Fortune Hotel an pintura.

Maraot man nanggad daw na magsangli nin itsura an Ateneo—na an Ateneo magbago?

Bako daw an Ateneo bako man sanang sarong edipisyo? Bako daw an sinasabing Ateneo ika mismo—an tawong naglaog sa antigong edipisyong ini? Tibaad ika man nanggad an makaluma— habong magsangli, habong magbago.

Dai man daw na an bagong pangaran mo—Ateneo Serrado?

Paggisa nin Tiniktik With Some Garnish

Gisahon mo an bawang, sibulyas, kamatis;
later, ilaag mo na an perang patos na tiniktik
fresh from the talipapa. Just a pinch of salt lang
ta may asin-dagat pa baga an talaba—iyan an
mapahamot kan saimong obra-kusina pag
nag-alusuos na. La’ganan mo nin two cups of water,
tapos alalay lang an kalayo, low fire lang ba? Takupan
ta nganing dai mag-evaporate an sustansya. Pakala-kagaon
mo ta nganing maluto an tiniktik. Simmer for a while,
mga three minutes or less, depende sa dakul kan seashells.
After that, puwede mo nang ilaag an berdura.
Or kangkong can do. Pero garo awkward siya
kun la’ganan mong pechay o patatas—
bako man kaya ning menudo o pochero.
Dai mo bitsinan tanganing wholesome siya—
maski siisay na bisita, health-conscious o boy scout,
puwedeng maka-free taste. Pag pigluwag mo na
an saimong ginisa and serve it with some
steaming hot rice, in fairness, tibaad
sa dapog puroton an sinasabi nindang fine dining.

Pagbúhay kan Lengwáhe

Kadaklán na beses, kun saén an saróng lengwahe nagngángarongátong mawará o magadán, dakúl an puwédeng gibóhon tangáning buháyon iní. Kun maaráman nanggád kan saróng komunidád na tibáad magadán an lengwahe nindá, magíbo sindá nin mga paági pára buháyon o padagúson pa iní.

Kaipúhan na mísmong an komunidád an mámuyang magsalbár kan saindáng sadíring lengwáhe. Mas oróg na makabuluhán kun paháhalagahán sa mísmong mga gawégawé o kultura kan mga táwong iní an lengwáheng ginagámit kan dikit sa saindá, o an ináapod na minoríya. Kaipúhan man na gástusan an mga gigibóhon na iní— puwédeng magmukná nin mga kurso o maggámit nin disiplínang ma-ádal dapít sa lengwáhe, mag-andám nin mga materyáles dángan mag-engganyár nin mga paratukdó na iyó an mabalangíbog kan lengwáhe.

Oróg na kaipúhan an mga lingwísta—sinda iyó an mga magámit kan lengwáhe—an katuyuhán iyó na maitalá, mahimáyhimáy, saká maisúrat iní. Kaipúhan kan mga táwong magbása dángan magsúrat sa sadiri nindáng lengwáhe, kun ma’wot nindáng magpadágos iní; kun má’wot nindáng sindá mísmo magdánay.


Villa, Ciudad Iloilo
Hunio 2008

Sa Puro Kan Kadlagan

Probaran mong imahinaron kun ano an ginibo ninda ki Armando.
Pagkadakop saiya sa engkwentro, dinara siya sa puro kan kadlagan.
Duman hinubaan siya ninda, saka nginirisihan ta’ mayo nin bulbol.
Tinagpas an saiyang dungo sagkod talinga,
Hinuldo saka dinuldog an saiyang mga mata,
Tinaga an saro niyang kamot, saka siya kinadog-kadog.
Isinulmok siya sa daga, rinugtas an saiyang buto sagkod bayag,
Dangan isinu’so sa saiya man sanang nguso. Dai sinda nakuntento;
Sinapsap ninda an duwang lapnad nang suso,
Pinalaob siya kan saro sainda saka kinado-kado.
Nag-aagrutong pa siya kan badilon sa payo kan saro sa sainda.
Pagkatapos siyang iwalat para ipaon sa mga hantik
Ruminulukso sinda sa naghaharak-hatak na salog, nagkararigos
Nganing magkawaraswas an langsa sa mga hawak ninda.


Susog sa "Edge of the Woods"
ni Luis Cabalquinto
2001

Seeing My Salvation with Fear and Trembling

I cringe at the sight of the Scourging at the Pillar in Mel Gibson’s Passion of the Christ. Whenever I watch it on DVD, I skip that part where Jim Caviezel’s bloodied body is flogged heavily like an animal, his skin ripped apart by the Roman soldiers. I fast-forward to the part where Abenader, Pilate's chief guard, scolds the soldiers for having almost killed Jesus. The first time I saw it on a wide-screen sometime in 2004, I tossed and turned and could not look, almost wanting to leave my seat, but could not.

I, Rooney

When I was a high school senior in Ateneo de Naga, I found it hard listening to Fr. Michael Rooney, the new adviser of the Sanctuary Society of the Sacred Heart (SSSH), a group of acolytes who served in the Mass and performed apostolates. That year, Father Rooney replaced Fr. Johnny Sanz who was then assigned in Bukidnon.

Father Rooney spoke Filipino with a twang that sounded so awkward, one which he tried so hard to enunciate. Always appearing eager to learn to speak the language, the priest would greet us “Magandang umaga” or “Kumusta kayo?” with an inflection that was only his.

Though soft-spoken, his Tagalog rather sounded ridiculous to me that I would just be distracted by the way he spoke and not understand what he would say.

Even the way he’d call my name every time I met him in the hallways made me feel uncomfortable.

Whenever I heard him say Mass in the Xavier Chapel, I could not help but while away my time, thinking other thoughts because I could hardly make out what the priest was saying.

But I found it interesting because the speaker himself did not seem to match the words he was speaking. Fr. Michael Rooney looked Caucasian but spoke Filipino—it was just incongruous.

The priest always sounded funny to me.

Yet, everything the priest did was anything but funny. In the brief company I shared with him as a member of the altar boys, I always found him amiable, and cheerful. Towering just like Father Phelan, Father Rooney hovered over us, students, someway like a coach, unfailing to smile and always rooting for us in whatever we would do, always there to make us aspire.

But why did he have to speak Filipino? I suppose Father Rooney spoke Tagalog, or even Bikol because he had to, if only to relate with everyone in Ateneo, the community he had been assigned to serve.

Like that of any other Jesuit seeking to lay down his life for his friend, his should have been the most difficult tradeoff. Perhaps Fr. Rooney’s calling which is hinged on selflessness and vulnerability to ridicule just required that he sound ridiculous (or otherwise interesting), if only to make people listen to what he had to say.

I suppose when Fr. Rooney became a Jesuit, he also knew that he should learn the language of the people with whom he will be called to serve. So he sought to learn it himself, not even thinking of how ridiculous he would sound.

I admire him for his constant eagerness to learn our own mother tongue, Filipino, inasmuch as I feel guilty of not using it myself.

Language was not one to prevent him from doing what he ought to do.  For in the fifteen years he had served in the community, through his unfailing efforts for the Ateneo, of which I just heard or learned from others, I can only surmise he surely got his message across.

Surmise—that’s the word. I can only surmise all these because as soon as I entered Ateneo college, Fr. Rooney had already become an obscure figure to me.

I just saw him in one of the pictures taken during my mother’s wake in Tinambac, Camarines Sur sometime in 1996. In the picture, he was seated in one of the pews. He was carrying an umbrella. It rained hard on my mother’s funeral. Fr. Rooney looked so forlorn—looking like he’s almost crying. Or as if he’s listening hard to one of the eulogies being given for my mother—one of which I myself gave in behalf of my brothers and sisters. Later, I would know that a bus-load of members of Ateneo community came to the Bagacay cemetery for our mother’s last rites.

I remember some of my classmates who were in the funeral but I hardly knew Fr. Rooney was there. I was surprised to see him in one of the pictures. During those days in college, being into a number of other things, I would not just be one to pay much attention.

I felt awkward when Mr. Gerry Brizuela, my fellow acolyte in those days, asked me for this tribute. Nothing is more ironic here than not being able to say anything much about the man of the hour.

I hardly knew the man, if at all.

It makes me want to cry, knowing I have not understood what he really said. Because in the rare instances he talked to me, or appeared trying hard to talk to me, I was hardly listening.

To Michael Rooney, S. J.

Pagbúhay kan Lengwáhe

Kadaklán na beses, kun saén an saróng lengwahe nagngángarongátong mawará o magadán, dakúl an puwédeng gibóhon tangáning buháyon iní.


Kun maaráman nanggád kan saróng komunidád na tibáad magadán an lengwahe nindá, magíbo sindá nin mga paági pára buháyon o padagúson pa iní.


Kaipúhan na mísmong an komunidád an mámuyang magsalbár kan saindáng sadíring lengwáhe. Mas oróg na makabuluhán kun paháhalagahán sa mísmong mga gawégawé o kultura kan mga táwong iní an lengwáheng ginagámit kan dikit sa saindá, o an ináapod na minoríya.
 

Kaipúhan man na gástusan an mga gigibóhon na iní— puwédeng magmukná nin mga kurso o maggámit nin disiplínang ma-ádal dapít sa lengwáhe, mag-andám nin mga materyáles dángan mag-engganyár nin mga paratukdó na iyó an mabalangíbog kan lengwáhe.
 

Oróg na kaipúhan an mga lingwísta—sinda iyó an mga magámit kan lengwáhe—an katuyuhán iyó na maitalá, mahimáyhimáy, saká maisúrat iní.

 
Kaipúhan kan mga táwong magbása dángan magsúrat sa sadiri nindáng lengwáhe, kun ma’wot nindáng magpadágos iní; kun má’wot nindáng sindá mísmo magdánay.

 

Villa, Ciudad Iloilo
June 2008

                                              

Gold

Pale gold of the walls, gold
of the centers of daisies, yellow roses
pressing from a clear bowl. All day
we lay on the bed, my hand
stroking the deep
gold of your thighs and your back.
We slept and woke
entering the golden room together,
lay down in it breathing 
quickly, then
slowly again,
caressing and dozing, your hand sleepily
touching my hair now.

We made in those days
tiny identical rooms inside our bodies
which the men who uncover our graves 
will find in a thousand years,
shining and whole.


Donald Hall, 
American poet laureate
1970

Summer

Quiet, calm afternoons bring me back to my afternoons in our old house in Bagacay. To avoid the baking heat of the rooms, I often lay down on the canopy of our rooftop, safe under the eaves. There, I fell asleep until a cooler breeze from the backyard of the Absins, our neighbors who owned the house at the foot of the hill, woke me up. The late afternoon was the best time to linger, then someone from the house—Mother, brother, or sister—called me for an afternoon treat of linabunan na batag or gina’tan.

Summer.

Acknowledgment
Paz Verdades "Doods" Santos, Bikol critic
The Literature teacher.

Suburban Madrigal

By John Updike [1932-2009]
Telephone Poles and Other Poems, 1959

 
Sitting here in my house,
looking through my windows,
diagonally at my neighbor’s house
I see his sun-porch windows;
they are filled with blue-green,
the blue-green of my car,
which I parked in front of my house,
more or less, up the street,
where I can’t directly see it.

How promiscuous is
the world of appearances!
How frail are property laws!
To him his window is filled with his
things: his lamp, his plants, his radio.
How annoyed he would be to know
that my car, legally parked,
yet violates his windows,
paints them full
(to me) of myself, my car,
my well-insured ’55 Fordor Ford
a gorgeous green sunset streaking his panes.

Ribu ribong dagom an duros ngonyan na aga.

http://nooonoooy.blog.friendster.com/

For Emma, who loved so much

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.


"The Sea House"
Philippine Graphic Weekly
November 1996

The Touched Life

By David Ray
1969


The touched life
gives up dignity,
cries aloud in public,
gets down on the floor
with the children of light
and of darkness,
weeps openly
or in secret,
yearns for a face
that is gone or
a face in the mirror,
defends the assassin,
sees only glory,
sees no end
to the suffering,
no opening up,
no gifts coming                                                        "The Scream,"  1893
finds meaning in wheat,                                            by Edvard Munch [1863-1944],
mostly isn’t wanted,                                                 European expressionist painter
is victim to anything
a cow, a wooden bucket,
can stand in the doorway
and gawk,
weeps at bikes leaning
together, scrawls notes
madly, shoves them
into books,
is lunatic, wonders
which will come first
the collapse of
capitalism or the emancipation
of man,
can be a gatekeeper,
can paint plates,
can hear the terrible meanings
go on speaking
can stand offering spirit,
saying would do anything for—
and what do we do
how do we pay back
the touched life
that spirit pure
as the baby rabbit—
with bars across the road
slaps across the face
by edict saying
it shall not happen
this miracle of
human closeness.

Paggisa Nin Tiniktik with Some Garnish

Gisahon mo an bawang, sibulyas, kamatis; later, ilaag mo na an perang patos na tiniktik fresh from the talipapa. Just a pinch of salt lang ta may asin-dagat pa baga an talaba—iyan an mapahamot kan saimong obra-kusina pag nag-alusuos na. La’ganan mo nin two cups of water, tapos alalay lang an kalayo, low fire lang ba? Takupan ta nganing dai mag-evaporate an sustansya. Pakala-kagaon mo ta nganing maluto an tiniktik. Simmer for a while, mga three minutes or less, depende sa dakul kan nasabing seashells. After that, puwede mo nang ilaag an berdura. Or kangkong can do. Pero garo awkward siya kun la’ganan mong pechay o patatas—bako man kaya ning menudo o pochero. Dai mo bitsinan tanganing wholesome siya—maski siisay na bisita, health-conscious o boy scout, puwedeng maka-free taste. Pag pigluwag mo na an saimong ginisa and serve it with some steaming hot rice, in fairness, sa dapog pupuroton an sinasabi nindang fine dining.

Ateneo Serrado

            Serrado an Ateneo pag-abot mo. Mayong tawo. An guardia sa tarangkahan dai mo bisto. Mabisita ka sa sarong pading dai nag-uli pag bakasyon. Pero mayo daa siya. Pero pinadagos ka.

             Hali sa guardhouse nahiling mo an Four Pillars may bago nang pintura. Nagduwaduwa kang maglaog ta garo dai mo aram kun Ateneo man nanggad an linaogan mo. Pininturahan ni nin kolor na garo man lang bagong shopping mall sa Centro. Nagimatan mo na kayang kupas an pintura kan Four Pillars kaya nataka ka kan nahiling mo.

            Saboot mo tapos na man nanggad an mga aldaw kun kansuarin sa façade kan eskwelahan na ini, nagparasad-pasad an magagayon na coed na pencil-cut an mga palda—yaon ka duman sa hagyanan kairiba si Emil, Bong sagkod Gerry, iniiriskoran pa nindo an magagayon na nag-aaragi.

            Nagsalingoy ka sa wala. Mayo na an soccer field kun saen kamo nagkaramang sa carabao grass ta may nagpasaway na parehong kadete sa Delta Platoon. An Xavier Hall na dati wooden building pa kaidto na dati man na SIO (Social Integration Office) saro nang konkretong edipisyo. Dai mo na mahiling an Pillars Office kun saen mo pigmakinilya sa bukbukon nang Olympia an enot mong love letter ki Jenny. Huli ta bago, dai mo na ni nabisto.
 
            Nagsalingoy ka sa tuo. Mayo na an mahiwas na grounds kun saen kamo naggiribo nin Belen para ilaban sa Pintakasi. Sa may batibot na ito nabisto mo si Lani, kaklase mo sa Sociology ki Nong Fernandez. Tapos na an Pintakasi kaidto pero dai mo pa nalingawan si mahamison na huyom kan Miss Irigang ini. Totoo man nanggad an cultural myth na pinag-adalan nindo sa subject na ito. Dai pa natapos an semester kadto naprobaran mo na tulos kun ta’no ta an Iriga pamoso sa mga aswang—pirang banggi kang dinuno kan sarong kagayunan na Lani an pangaran. Haen na man daw siya ngonyan?

            Naglakaw-lakaw ka. Nagsara-salingoy.

            Haen na an gym? A, natahuban na palan kan Xavier Hall Building na bago. Dai mo na tulos nahiling an Blue Knight sa letrang A na enot mong nahiling kan nagpila ka para mag-exam sa First Year High School beinte anyos na an nakakaagi. Pagbalik mo pag-ralaogan, ogmahon kang maray kan mabasa mo na an ngaran mo sa lista kan LG 12.

            Mayo ka pang kabisto kaidto kaya pagtingag mo sa façade kan building, nahiling mo an Blue Knight na nakasakay sa kabayo. Hiya! Maski sa kabayo saboot mo masakay ka makauli lang tulos sa Bagacay—iiistorya mo ki Mama mo an marahay-rahay na bareta ito.

            Tinahuban na palan kan Xavier Hall Building na bago. Dai mo na mahiling si Blue Knight na tiningag mo kaidto.

            Mayo na an dating Ateneo de Naga. Sarong aldaw pagbisita mo, dai mo na ‘ni naabutan. Marayo na sinda. Mayo ka nang mabisto digdi. Dai ka na madagos sa laog. Tibaad ka kaya maanayo. Malakaw ka na lang pabalik sa Avenue.

            “Tapos na ang maliligayang araw,” sabi ninda ngani kaiyan. Tibaad an Golden Age kan Ateneo de Naga nakaagi man nanggad na. An Four Pillars Lucky Fortune Hotel an pintura.

            Maraot man nanggad daw na magsangli nin itsura an Ateneo—na an Ateneo magbago?

            Bako daw an Ateneo bako man sanang sarong edipisyo? Bako daw an sinasabing Ateneo ika mismo—an tawong naglaog sa antigong edipisyong ini? Tibaad ika man nanggad an makaluma— habong magsangli, habong magbago.

            Dai man daw an ngaran mo—Ateneo Serrado?

Times and the Man

To the left of the chapel fronting the registrar’s
I am warmly greeted by the bust of the late
school president, his head up in royal stance,
one that commanded, in his life, not necessarily
respect, but rather generosity of spirit
so that everyone in my community heard
“to serve Bikol and country” as a tall order,
as towering as the Four Pillars
beyond which much I have done.

 
Bronze perhaps, the bust’s broad shoulders
remind me of one prominent, imposing
civility, who considered diplomacy a byword,
exactness a crime, rapport a virtue,
the verities even I need now
that the man is long gone.

To Raul J. Bonoan, S.J. [1935-1999]

Authorized Personnel Only

Inspired by Uncle Badong, on the occasion of his retirement

 

 

For some people, retirement from a job is not a welcome change. Others who hardly plan their retirement at all are even prone to deteriorate because they might not be prepared for the day when they will have virtually nothing to do anymore.

 

People should be encouraged to remain in paid employment for as long as they want. For one, an employee can be efficient if he is driven to do something. If he still wants to work regardless of his age, the company can always bank on his efficiency because more often than not, he or she will deliver the tasks expected of them—or even go beyond it.

 

Second, employees who have reached a certain length of experience in their work most probably have acquired a distinct level of expertise as well, one that is needed in a company or organization in its fulfillment of successful operations. So instead of taking time to invest in training newcomers who will (have to) learn the needed skills, the company can always entrust its vital tasks to the veteran. The case can be compared to that of wine wherein the older the wine is stored in the barrel, the more suave its taste becomes—hence, the better quality and satisfaction.

 

 

 

 

 

Retiring from government service at 60 this year,
Uncle Badong is pictured here in his usual afternoon outfit
in our ancestral libod, perhaps after having swept the yard

of his house and finished the luon which drives away

the noknok and other pestering nocturnal insects,

along with a horde of evil spirits around the yard.

Some 20 meters away from this house is his MARO office,
the workplace where he had helped countless farmers

to properly claim their land titles, and perhaps even

saved a number of them from the paraanab [landgrabbers]

of all kinds. His has been the kind of work, or more aptly,

a sense of commitment that not just any CSSAC graduate

can read into in order to fully deliver.

 

If people are allowed to work for as long as they want, which would mean that the personnel will be filled by seasoned workers and staff, the company is sure to face challenges in the future headstrong. Its seasoned personnel and human resource will inspire everyone else with the wisdom they (must have) gained from the many years of exposure to the kind of work in the organization.

 

Indeed, if people are employed in a company so that they serve it in the best sense of the word and, in essence, help build it, keeping them for as much as they want can benefit the organization, enough to sustain itself through the years.

 

 

 

Grade I - Camia , School Year 1982–1983

Grade I-Camia

School Year 1982-1983

 

Bagacay Elementary School

Bagacay, Tinambac

Camarines Sur

 

Mrs. Thelma Cornelio

Adviser

 

First Row (seated from left)
Jorge Torres (cut from the picture), Darwin Torrazo, Alfredo Cortez, Oscar Solano, Laureano Begino, Ronnel Luzada, Jonathan Cristal, Rey Teope,  Niño Manaog

Second Row (seated from left)
Romeo Caceres, Jonel Dazal, Ronnel Garcia, Ramon Solano, Edgar Bayola, Andres Olalia

Third Row (standing from left)
Joy Begino, Marilyn Solano, Lolita de la Rosa, Mrs. Thelma Cornelio [seated, center], Ma. Salvacion Mendoza, Raquel Celeste, Monina Tacorda

Fourth Row (standing from left)
Marissa Orillosa, Susana Judavar, Eleanor Base, Realy Tuy, Divina Abiog, Dina Nacional, Rosemarie Abragan, Josephine Pilapil, Myla Dazal, Richelle Azur, Maribel Corpuz

Poetry, Criticism and the World According to Matthew Arnold

L

ionel Trilling, a 20^th-century American critic, must have considered Matthew Arnold the founding father of modern criticism in the English speaking world, because of the consistently moralistic if not messianic tenets he espoused on poetry, its criticism and society.

 

Having lived in a time of social unrest in English society, Arnold saw a need to heighten among the English “the impulse to the development of the whole man, to connecting and harmonizing all parts of him, perfecting all, leaving none to take their chance.

Ushering in the New Humanism in his era, Arnold poses these questions—Who shall inherit England? What kinds of power could they be trusted with? What forms of education should they receive? Arnold says that answers can be found in many literary sources, some of the distant past, others close to his own era.

Treating writing and reading of literature as urgent activities in the world, Arnold says that poetry at bottom is “a criticism of life—the greatness of the poet lies in the powerful and beautiful application of ideas to life—to the question—how to live.”

He highly esteems poetry, believing it is the enlightened activity of the mind/culture. Having wide range, covering diverse subject matter, it communicates in a formative and effective way through offering what is itself a living experience, not through abstract analysis and description.

On the value of poets and their works, Arnold considers such noble and profound application of ideas to life the most essential part of poetic greatness.

Further on, to Arnold, poetry is nothing less than the most perfect speech of man. It is the use of language in the most effective, reaching and suggestively adequate way possible. Also, poetry emerges when man comes nearest to being able to utter the truth—that is by way of verbal expression.

In Preface to Wordsworth Poems, Arnold says the question how to live is itself a moral idea. And it is the question which is most interests every man, and with which, in some way or other, he is perpetually occupied. A large sense of course is to be given to the term moral. Whatever bears upon the question how to live comes under it.

The greatness of English poetry at its best resides in the vigorous imaginative power with which it has related moral ideas to concrete life.

Here, Arnold parallels Sidney on didacticism. He claims that appreciative reading of the best literature achieves for us moral betterment and spiritual renewal.

When Arnold says, “Aspirants to perfection and foes to fanaticism and zealotry, critics are the best persons—poised, balanced, and reflective…” he echoes Sidney who claims that the final end of learning is “to lead and draw us to as high a perfection as our degenerate souls, made worse by their clayey longings, can be capable of.”

Involved and having witnessed to the current state of the English society, Arnold’s privilege and position allowed him to critique criticism in the most incisive unyielding if not austere way.

He declared that criticism is the “disinterested endeavour to learn and propagate the best that is known and thought in the world.”

Arnold pushed that poetry must be evaluated according to man’s  most basic concern—the active attainment of culture in the broadest sense, and the total and integrated perfecting of himself and his potentialities as an aware, responsive and active creature.

“We ought to have contact with the essential nature of these objects so that we are no longer bewildered and oppressed by them—but by assimilating into our habitual feelings rather become more in harmony with them—this feeling calms and satisfies as no other can—through magic of style in the poem, in the best literature.”

The steadfastness of Arnold’s tall orders so as to consider literature a religion itself has perhaps disinterested many cynical critics and theorists alike.

His ideals of literature and cultural humanism—reflected in his credo—have preoccupied radical and contemporary critics. Stanley Fish, working in the vein of reception theory, would deny the possibility of disinterestedness or objectivity. Modern Marxist critic Terry Eagleton would emphasize Arnold’s alignment with the state power and the privileged class in his stress on timeless truths. They would also run counter to those of modern cultural theorists like Antonio Gramsci, Edward Said and Stuart Hall. While Arnold sees culture as selective and harmonious, not conflictual, modern cultural theorists consider culture as the distinctive whole way of life characterized as an instrument of social and political control and/or conquest.

Nevertheless, for Arnold, criticism and culture “loom large—they benefit the individual, they impel sustained acts of reflection; and prevent persons from falling into complacency and self-satisfaction.”