By Generoso Opulencia

 

Sa Hunasan
(Kay Nene)

Pamangkuta ako:
“Daw ano ang gugma
mo?”

Kon ang aton kabuhi
tulad kang kalalawran

Ang gugma ko, Nene,
imaw dyang hunasan.

 

At Ebbing Time
(For Nene)

Ask me:
“What kind is your love
for me?”

If our life
is the ocean

My love, Nene,
is this shore
at ebbing time.

 

Dyang Kuti nga Itom

Dyang kuti nga itom
Nga nagsapot kanamon
Gapatamsak sa yahong
Kada tana mag-inom.

Mga papel sa hilithilit
Wara patay ang gusnit.
Pinamarhan sa anglit
Wara patay ang kuhit.

Dyang kuti nga itom
Garalambid kon abuton
Gadawhatdawhat kang di makita
Nga bola o baringon

Gakayakaya, gaturutakilid
Gakamraskamras
Sa akon kagidkid
Nga dara ayhan

Ang nagatigpasaw
Nga bugna kag bulong
Nga dugsing
Kang taga-ibabaw.

 

This Black Kitty

This black kitty
That has made hers our home
Smacks at the bowl
Each time she drinks.

Scraps of paper from odd corners
She shreds to pieces.
The fish stew in the clay pot
She pokes at without ceasing.

This black kitty
Writhes when in a mood
Stretching at invisible
Balls or dried dilis to boot

Lying now on her back
Turning now on her side
Scratches my mange
Perhaps bringing

The splash of healing
Gift of the playfulness
From above.

 

(The poems below have been published in Mantala: A Quarterly Journal of Philippine Literature.)

 

Ang Sulat ni Dandansoy

Sa gakudogkudog kong kaugatan
Ang karamig kang salog tang kawayan
Daw wara gid pag-iban.

Gabaragtik sa banggirahan
Ang mumho sa gatarangkas nga dulang.

Ang kaluoy, Inday, sa aton ugsadan
Nga katong una marimasa
Kag masurusapdingan
Kang buta mo nga lata
Kada kaw mamahid
Kang imo kahig sa ugsadan
Ay, karon daw manunggal ron
Garulubid sa kauhaw.

Palangga, tama ron ra nga pagsunggod.

Ang tanan nga bubon
Nga ginkutkot mo sa dalanon
Akon palapilapion
Kang luha kong asinon

Agud lang sa imo
Kauhaw kag kaluya
Indi ron kaw kaisrot
Rugto magpadayon
Sa Payaw kang mga payaon.

Pamaypay lang kanakon
Hay alay-ayon ta dayon
Kag rugya dar-on.

Untaton ron nakon ang pagdayandayan
Kanday Goryo, Istring, kag Imang
Kag baklan ko it bag-o nga banig
Ang aton baratangan.

Palangga, bisan sapsap ron lan agwantaha

Hay sa pira ka adlaw mangita ko’t obra
Kag patasukan ko ikaw it imo nga bomba
Dya sa tambi sa tupad markopa.

Inday, balik ron.
Hugasi dulang ta kag koron.

 

Dandansoy’s Letter

The chill from the bamboo floor
Doesn’t seem to ebb at all
From my rattling bones.

Leftover rice has dried up
On clay plates piled high on the washboard.
The mint, my sweet, by our doorsteps,
Once robust,
Which your can
Brimming with water
Touched every time you wiped
Your feet
Is now shriveling from the thirst
Like wormwood vine.

Darling, enough of that sulking.

All the well
You’ve dug along the way
I’ll fill to the brim
With my bitter tears

So that
Consumed with thirst
You’ll have no more strength
To crawl back
To Payaw of childish days.

Just wave at me,
I’ll carry you back here
Tenderly.

I’ll stop loafing around
At Goryo’s, Istring’s, and Imang’s
And I’ll buy a new mat
For our sleeping room.

Beloved, be satisfied with sapsap

As one of these days I’ll get a job
And save enough to drill you a water pump
At the back porch near the markopa.

Inday, come back now.
Wash our plates and pot.

 

Ang Kuon ni Kabo Isko

Ang kuon ni Kabo Isko
Nga nagapaninghawak pa:

Ay, Insiong,
Ang kaaburido mo indi dyan ipaupok
Sa imo patdan nga nagatarap-uk.
Pus-angi kang imo ispading
Ang bagol kang imo engkargado
Asta mag-aragsik ana utok
Sa mga bata mong gapurunsok.

Ugaring lang—
Dyan man angod kanimo
Ang risgo magralagapok
Hay wara kaw’t mahimu
Sa anang kagarok.
Gani utda ron lang
Ang imo turuslok.

 

Says Foreman Isko

Says Foreman Isko
With arms akimbo:

Ay, Insiong,
Don’t aim your anger
At the sugarcane tops
Unload it with your machete tip
On the administrator’s pate
Till all his brain scatters
Over your crowd of children.

On second thought
The risky things you do
Will all come down on you
As nothing else can help
To set aright his crooked ways.
And so, to make things simpler
Chop off your pecker.