WAKING UP TO THE PATTERN LEFT BY A SNAIL OVERNIGHT
Official release a day after my birthday!
Poetry lovers, friends and family in the US and Singapore can now order copies!
We’re still working on editions in other territories. If you know publishers we can approach, please send me a message!
The book contains poems that mention or refer to Martial Law in the Philippines, the Duterte fake drug war, Jacob Zuma, Maria Ressa, Mad Max, Björk, and Taylor Swift, among others.
Nakikita ko lang siya
Lagi sa telebisyon.
Nagsasalita na parang tatay.
— “Uuwi na si Lolo” ni Genaro Ruiz Gojo Cruz
Sa hiram na tinig ng apo,
pinadaloy mo ang mga salitang hindi naiiba
sa daigdig ng karaniwang bata
karaniwang pagkauhaw sa kalinga
karaniwang pagkasabik sa pag-uwi at muling pagkikita
karaniwang pagnanais na huwag nang mawalay pa.
Halos malunod sa sabik
ang iyong piniling tinig.
Ngunit saang lungga mo hinugot
ang musmos na ito?
Sa kanyang kunwaring daigdig
na may telebisyon
walang inilublob sa pighati
walang minamahal na hindi na mayayakap
walang batang hindi na muling maririnig
ang tinig ng magulang.
Gojo, may sariling mga mata
kahit ang musmos. Alam niya
ang kulay ng dugo hindi man
sa sariling sugat bumulwak.
Hindi karaniwang lolo
ang pinakahihintay na umuwi
sa iyong kunwa-tula-pambata.
Ang lolong ito ay mamamatay-tao.
-o-
The University of the Philippines (UP, the national state university) Marine Science Institute (MSI) disapproved of the dumping of crushed dolomite sand, saying that it will not improve the water quality in the Manila Bay, and that continuous replenishment of the sand will be expensive.
https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/10/01/20/up-marine-scientists-explain-why-dumping-dolomite-cant-solve-manila-bay-problems
In a rented palace by a river there is a dolphin that walks and talks. He squirts out words from cheeks shiny as oiled buttocks.
He is a transcriber of minds, tortured and troubled. Randomly he delivers interpretations to a population whose ears have gotten used to the grating voice and cryptic mutterings of his master for years. With every appearance he flips backwards, swirling the real and the fantastic in a flurry of over-sized fins.
He wears a smile forever plastered on his round face, even when he is struck with sadness, for he must never lose hope in his ability to convince the people that all is well in the kingdom.
But as the air carries maladies no kulambo could ward off, the dolphin flips backwards even more frantically. He wants the people to believe that the battered remains of a mountain now powdered and stretched on the brief shoreline is a seductive woman.
“Feel how she kisses your feet! Watch how she dances with the waves!” he squeals and squirms in his shallow plastic palanggana, made in China.
Those who can bear his performance are happy as crabs in a bubbling cauldron. They dream of white beaches where they can run anywhere they want, always sideways.
-o-
Sibuyas ang iyong mga mata.
Sa dibdib na palaging may dagta,
puso ng saging ang nakaluklok.
Luoy na petsay ang iyong buhok,
butil-butil na balat ng atis,
mga luha mong itinatangis.
Ina ng mga nais ilibing
sa pagkabulok nitong rehimeng
dahas at dilim ang wikang dura,
huwag kang maghintay ng himala.
Sa ‘yong kusina, kinang ng talim.
Sarili mong kuko, may talas din.
-o-
https://r3.rappler.com/move-ph/155140-left-burn-effigy-duterte-authoritarian-tendencies
Paghahati sa Iniluwal na Kaban ng Bayan
“Araw-araw, binibilang ang mga nabubuwal…
Sa gutom ay natatakot yaong nag-aagawan,
Kinakalas na ang batas, pumapalag kung masúkol. ”
– “Luwalhati” ni Rebecca T. Añonuevo
Maiging maunawaan na hindi mahika
ang agham. Lohika ang wika nito,
batay sa masusing pagmamasid, paghahanap
ng mga kaugnayang madalas hindi inaasahan.
May sukat na limitado ng panukat,
may panghuhula, ngunit may materyal na
kinahahabian, tila sapot na kay dali ring mapigtal
kung mapapatunayang may ibang posibleng paliwanag.
Kaya dating makatang bula na ngayon
ang lohika, bakit mo tinutuya na tila kakilala
ang Kamatayan? Sa ibang panahon, mapapalampas
sana ito, parang ingay sa perya na naghahatid
ng panandaliang paglimot sa pang-araw-araw na pagod.
Maaari mo pang mala-Hamlet na hawakan
ang bungo ng kung-sinong estranghero,
magyayakyak ka’t magtitili hanggang umusbong
ang lahat ng litid mula leeg hanggang kilikili.
Ngunit sa ilalim ng kasalukuyang rehimen
na iyong sinasamba, katawa-tawa.
Hindi tawang may tuwa,
kundi matinding kapaitan.
Gamitan mo kaya ng agham ang pagbibilang
sa iniluwal na kaban ng bayan?
Hanapan mo kaya ng mga materyal na patunay
ang landas na tinahak ng bawat piso
sa bilyon-bilyong ipinagkatiwala sa tuliro-
kung-magsalita mong poon?
“Tahimik ngayon ang paligid, ngunit di lubhang tahimik,”
ang wika mo. Ang tugon dapat ng Kamatayan,
mula rin sa iyong salita: “Traydor ka
mula’t mula, hindi patas kung lumaban.”
-o-
Diyan Mismo sa Flag
“Magkikita na lang tayo diyan sa Rizal Park.
Diyan mismo sa flag ni Rizal magbigti na lang ako.”
– Rodrigo Roa Duterte, 6 Abril 2020
May bunganga ang basurahan. May bunganga
ang imburnal, ang inidoro, ang halimaw na gabi lamang
kung mag-iingay. Samantala, nais magpahinga
ang mga may kaluluwa at pagod ang katawan.
Ngunit kaya nga halimaw ang tawag sa halimaw.
Nanghahalina, nais mangibabaw sa paraang kanyang-kanya.
Maging ang bandila ng bayani na malaon nang yumao,
gagawing pambigti. Akala mo may kakawalang kaluluwa
sa kanyang kalamnang pumipintig lamang
habang nagpapakahayok at nagpapasasa
sa karimlang kinasalampakan.
Kung maaari lang, kumilos sana
ang estatwa ni Pepe,
sipain ka sa bayag.
Ngunit wala ka, eh.
Ay heyt drags.
-o-
Apologies for those who cannot read Filipino. I’ll try to work on a translation when I get a chance.
I chanced upon this page from This is Collossal that made me remember what’s been happening among the largely poor population in the Philippines.
Today, in my country of birth, the current president appears before the lawmakers of the land, and before the entire nation. This is the same president who vowed to defend and protect the citizens of the country and adhere to the constitution. This is the same president who, soon as he took to power, violated the most basic rights of the poor and defenseless.
Today he speaks as if he were the hero of the land. Each of us, in our own minds, try to be the hero we dream of. Duterte’s greatest hero, as he has declared and proven by his actions many times over, is the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos who silenced critics by sending them to prison, if not to the grave.
Duterte’s so-called war on drugs, in a mere three years, has gone way beyond what Marcos himself managed to do.
I wrote the following poem last year as a first draft. The second draft did away with all that is so blatant in the piece and, in a way, turned out to be a better poem. But it didn’t retain the anger and condemnation I wanted to convey. That poem is due to appear in a South African journal, the New Coin.
Today, as I cannot join any of the protest rallies in my country of birth, I decided to share this poem here, and perhaps on my Facebook author account.
We Cannot Allow the Dead to be Silenced
The man who curses shall be cursed
to live forever in the stories we shall tell
our children. They will not fear him
or his twisted reincarnations.
Our children shall not be shaken
by his threats. His attack dogs
with teeth of bullets cannot make us
turn away and flee.
Though the dead may be left
unclaimed in morgues
or dumped on the side of the road,
their faces bound with packaging tape,
they will never be silenced.
The veins on their exposed necks
and stiffened arms will turn to roots.
And we who fight to remember
the cruelty inflicted upon those
we can no longer hold shall bear
bitter fruit to be shoved
down the tyrant’s throat.
-o-
The title of this post may look odd to those who are not familiar with the play on words Filipinos like to employ by borrowing from another language. A rough translation would be – aside from SONA (State of the Nation Address) – “Done in by Duterte.”
https://www.rappler.com/nation/updates-duterte-state-of-the-nation-address-july-2019
https://www.rappler.com/move-ph/235870-groups-hit-duterte-admin-performance-ahead-sona-2019
That’s the title of a new poem that might be included in later editions of HOW TO MAKE A SALAGUBANG HELICOPTER & OTHER POEMS.
For the mean time you can read it on the Facebook page of my amazing publisher, San Anselmo Publications.
Photo of bullet from Wikimedia.
Walang Matris ang mga Mambabatas
1wala silang gunita
ng balat na iniuunat
sa bawat udyok ng paglaki
ng lamang hinabi ng mga pintig,
lamang nanahanan
nang ilang buwan,
nagpupuyos na kumawala
upang salubungin ang daigdig,
nag-uumapaw sa pagtataka
gayong panig-panig
ang panganib
2wala silang gunita
ng pangamba at tuwa
sa mga unang pakikipagbuno
sa hatak ng lupa
ng munting katawan
hanggang sa wakas
makatayo sa mabuway
na mga binti,
bumitiw sa gabay
at buong giting
na buhatin ang isang paa
samantalang naninimbang
ang kabila
upang subukan
ang unang hakbang,
manghang-mangha
3wala silang gunita
ng pagpigil-hininga
samantalang nakatalungko,
halos di-tumitinag
sa pag-aabang
ng baha-bahagyang
paghimpil
ng tila babasagin
na mga pakpak
ng tutubi
4bugtong:
walang matris
walang puso
walang utak
walang kaluluwa
panay bulsa at bunganga
sino sila?
Matangmanok 
