Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Mga Tula ng isang Mapagkunwari ... Kunwari Makata

Hwag mangarap sa bayan ng mga bastos
Sila na ang maingay sila pa ang ma-angal
Sumingit na sa bakuran mo sila pa ang may riklamo.
Sabihan mo ng karapatan
Hahanapan ka ng paglalabagan
Magsumikap ka ng malinis
Sa buwis ka nanakawan.
Hwag mangarap sa bayan ng mga bastos.
       (30 Nob 2014)

Dito sa bayan ng mga bastos
May mga prinsipyo ring
Pinagmamalaki at
Pinangangahalagahan.
Heto, mga halimbawa,
"Wala akong kapwa".
"Di bale'ng walang dangal basta't makaraos".
"Maging katuwatuwa sa kasinungalingan".
"Ang pagnanakaw ay karapatan".
Iilan lang ito sa napakarami pang iba na
Pinagmamalaki at
Pinangangahalagahan.
Dito sa bayan ng mga bastos.
      (2 Dis. 2014)

The wind started a tune
Through the cracks of a wall
And I turned to listen
That perhaps your voice too
Would whisper that you're here.
The rain kept drumming strong
On the iron sheet above my head,
No rhythm there, just banging banging drunk and lost
A thousand snares  and slits and stir
As if to say, it's empty now, my home.
      (29 Dec. 2014)


The storm keeps pounding on the field
I see nothing but a grey shroud of rain.
In the night when the beast should asleep be
I stay awake and alert; the roof’s my only shield.
I keep memory of all that is of pain
As though it’s all that’s left of me.  
The wind is now blowing wild
In the distance the boughs creak and break.
So much time does anguish need
To find its comfort at my side.
Shall it leave me in peace for my sake
As though it were serious enough indeed?
My bones are tired from all my mess
My flesh has weakened from any lust.
No prayer is on my lips; it’s now painted on the wall.
Still the unfathomable storm unleashes
Within this helpless man going fast
Down the abyss he did not forestall.    
        (31 Dec.2014)

I find myself in a dark night.
Moonless.
Nothing to be seen.
There lurks the imagined shadow
Of him who will slit my throat
When he sees me asleep.
Bravo, moonless night,
You make each move without trace.
My veins alert
My shoulders upright
And my hand bladed.
Now resumes
What I thought was over.
    (31 Dec 2014)

While the birds chirp machines fly by;          
Noise of engines and of men working
Not seeing night nor day; they all grind
Aimlessly.       
While the clouds calmly hover bullets fling out;       
Tongues of useless words speak of names    
That mortal soldiers die for
Aimlessly.
Each does the same to consume and consume                  
For one’s indoor dwelling  
Seeping with boredom and anxiety
Aimlessly.

Meanwhile
A mother and her child
Under a leaking thatched roof
Still keep their blessing in their hearts
For their savior has ventured to become flesh
To show the face of the Father
And the folly of living
Aimlessly.
    (1 Jan. 2015)


Did you know that
Memory is cellular too?
When the mother left the child at the doorway
To run so far  so bloody far away
She placed the child’s skin, flesh, entrails
Brain, legs and arms
At the mercy of fear to be alone
And be dismembered from all possible trust.
Did the mother know that henceforth
Harm and pain and loneliness
Will be the growing child’s faithful friends?
Did she ever wonder why there’s no forever
For her child whose every joy is never meant hello?
Did she ever know that every verse from her child’s lips
Will never be truly uttered without shame?
And when the mother decided to come home dying
Did she not know that the doorway’s gone
And her child’s stretched shadow shall have been cast
In a gloomy alley she’ll never visit?  
Yes, memory is cellular
As it is carried by every fiber of a disappearing man.
     (1 Jan 2015)


Sa bayan ng mga bastos
Ang salita ay masalimuot
Upang ang dukha’y di makaunawa
At nang sila’y tumugon nang tumugon
Sa mga hangarin ng nakakaunawa.
At bakit di nga naman?
Eh may mga mamamayan
Na di naman daw angkop
Sa hugis ng kayamanan
Kapangyarihan
Karangalan?
Ang mga dukha,
Masyadong marami na daw sila
Dapat bawasan
Upang maginhawaan naman
Ang mga maiiwan.

    (3 Enero 2015) 


Nagtanong si Manong
“Ano ba ang bastos
At lagi mong panggatong
Sa sigaw mong namamaos?”
“Manong”, ang aking sagot,
“Bastos ang walang galang sa dangal
Ang katuparan sa karapatan ay nilagot
At ang tutok ay sa sariling angal”.
“Ah”, wika ng matanda,
“Tumawid akong lumpo
At ni isa ang pumara,
Nasagi na, ako pa ang ginago”.
Tuloy ang kanyang paglalakad
Papauwi sa tahanang lurayluray
Kamay sa baywang nakaladkad
Ng nagmamanehong nagtago sa laway.
    (5 Enero 2015)

Sa bayan ng mga bastos
Pinipili kung sino’ng tao
Nangingibabaw ang sama’ng loob.
Pamumulitika’y walang paltos
Sari-sari’t panig wari’y sa totoo
At ang sa kabilang panig ay itinataob.
Sa bayan ng mga bastos
May akala mo’y kung sino
Malayo naman sa dukkha’t laging nakasaklob.
Sa sigaw nila’y namamaos
Sa bulong nama’y nagtatago
Inaaming tao rin sila’t may loob.
     (9 Marso 2015)





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