nameabledays Archive One

Book cover study for 'Heartland' by Donato Alvarez. The book is being prepared for publication by Anvil, due to come out in June 2007




TWO from MULI SA KANDUNGAN NG LUPA
by Rio Alma

Translated by
Marne L. Kilates as
HEARTLAND

TUWING DADALAWIN KO ANG DAGAT

Natutuhan kong bumasa't sumulat
Sa pamamagitan ng dagat.
Guro ko ang matiyagang alon
Sa ulit-ulit na pagbaybay sa anyo ng lupa;
Ang bumubulang tilamsik ng buhay
Sa natutulog na buhangin.
Natutuhan kong basahin ang lungkot
Sa mga kulubot ng kabibe't korales,
Sa pagas na tiyan ng nakahimpil na bangka,
Sa ulyaning lambat na naghahanap ng asin.
Natutuhan ko namang isulat ang tuwa
Sa malikot na pagtatampisaw ng talampakan,
Sa malayang pusag ng hipon,
At banye-banyerang biyayang iniaahon
Ng matitipunong mangingisda.
Tuwing dadalawin ko ang dagat,
Nagbubulong ito ng simulain
Mula sa sigasig ng nababasag na alon;
Natutunaw ang malibag na asim ng siyudad
At para akong baguntao
Na humahandang humarap muli sa sugat at pangarap.



EVERYTIME I GO TO THE SEA

I learned to read and write
From the sea.
The ever-patient wave was my teacher,
Its syllables constantly uttering the shape of the land,
And life springing forth from the froth,
The spray on the slumbering sand.
I learned to read sorrow
From the wrinkled flesh of clam and coral,
The frayed belly of the tired outrigger,
The senile net thirsting for salt.
Too, I learned to write joy
Into the splashing of feet on the surf,
Into the leaping of the shrimp,
And into the pans of the sea’s bounty
Hoisted by the arms of brawny fishermen.
Every time I go to the sea,
It whispers to me the original principle
Of the breaking wave;
It washes off the stale grime of the city
And I am a man reborn,
Ready to face once more every pain and dream.


MGA BAGYO

Taon-taon ang matinding kabanata ng bagyo:
Naburyong na bubog at hangin
Mula sa bunganga ng sanlibong serpiyente,
Umuusok na kristal
Sa huklubang balikat ng nangangalisag na lupain.
Gumagapang ang elektrisidad sa langit
At walang patawad ang atas ng kulog.
May mga magdamag
Musmos kaming nagmamatyag sa singasing
At hagupit ng naglisaw na dambuhala;
Nagugutay ang madapurak na bubong,
Nalalasog ang mapuntiryang poste't pader;
Nabubulunan ang imburnal at kanal,
Nagmamakaawa ang pasuray-suray na kawayan;
At napapapikit kami pagdagundong
Ng pangwakas na paggahasa
Sa lupaypay na pananim at pamayanan.
Napapapikit kaming mariin,
Mariing-mariin...
Upang sa umaga'y magtaka
Kung anung kapangyarihan ng araw ang sumupil
At nagtaboy sa hukbo ng karimlan.


TYPHOONS

The typhoons’ episodes of terror are yearly:
Berserk wind and shattered glass
Streaming from the mouths of a thousand serpents,
Smoke of dark crystal billowing
From beyond the ancient shoulders of the bristling land.
The heavens crawl with crackling electricity
And the verdicts of thunder are without forgiveness or pity.
There were nights
When we were children watching
And listening for the keening
And whiplash of wet, demented monsters:
Turning wildly they tore every roof,
They toppled and smashed every wall and post;
The drains and canals choked,
The distressed bamboo begged for mercy.
We shut our eyes
At the final rumbling rape
Of our prostrate crops, our helpless land.
Tightly we shut our eyes,
Tightly, ever tightly…
Only to wonder in the morning
What power of sun subdued
And expelled these armies of the night.