Jim Pascual Agustin's Blog, page 40

Ganoon pa rin ang mga Salita – 3 of 14 Love Poems from Baha-bahagdang Karupukan and Alien to Any Skin

Ganoon pa rin ang mga Salita

Ganoon pa rin ang mga salita.

Ang pagkadiin ng itim

ng tinta sa dilaw ng papel.

Pagkabasa muli (pang-ilang

ulit na ba?), pagtapat

ng higit na liwanag

Sa likod ng papel, naghahabi-

habi ang mga titik. Nag-uugnay

ang magkabilang panig.

Hindi na mapagsino.

Ngunit paglapag sa mesa,

paglapat ng tamang liwanag,

nanunumbalik ang mga salita.

Mga gunitang dahan-dahang

nagigising. At ikaw.

-o-

This poem appears in Baha-bahagdang Karupukan. This is poem 3 of 14 Love Poems.

translation attempt

Words Remain

The words remain the same.

The weight of black ink

as if carved on yellow paper.

After reading it once more (lost

count how many times over), I hold it

against a fiercer light.

The words interweave

on either side of the sheet.

I can no longer tell what’s written.

But laying it down on the table,

letting light strike it as it should,

the words return.

Memories slowly

waken. And you.

-o-

Filed under: 14 Love Poems from Baha-bahagdang Karupukan and Alien to Any Skin, Uncategorized Tagged: Alien to Any Skin, Baha-bahagdang Karupukan, Filipino poetry, Jim Pascual Agustin, Philippines, poetry, UST Publishing House

Ganoon pa rin ang mga Salita

Ganoon pa rin ang mga Salita

Ganoon pa rin ang mga salita.

Ang pagkadiin ng itim

ng tinta sa dilaw ng papel.

Pagkabasa muli (pang-ilang

ulit na ba?), pagtapat

ng higit na liwanag

Sa likod ng papel, naghahabi-

habi ang mga titik. Nag-uugnay

ang magkabilang panig.

Hindi na mapagsino.

Ngunit paglapag sa mesa,

paglapat ng tamang liwanag,

nanunumbalik ang mga salita.

Mga gunitang dahan-dahang

nagigising. At ikaw.

-o-

This poem appears in Baha-bahagdang Karupukan. This is poem 3 of 14 Love Poems.

translation attempt

Words Remain

The words remain the same.

The weight of black ink

as if carved on yellow paper.

After reading it once more (lost

count how many times over), I hold it

against a fiercer light.

The words interweave

on either side of the sheet.

I can no longer tell what’s written.

But laying it down on the table,

letting light strike it as it should,

the words return.

Memories slowly

waken. And you.

-o-

-o-

Filed under: 14 Love Poems from Baha-bahagdang Karupukan and Alien to Any Skin, Uncategorized Tagged: Alien to Any Skin, Baha-bahagdang Karupukan, Filipino poetry, Jim Pascual Agustin, Philippines, poetry, UST Publishing House

Meeting – 2 of 14 love poems

Meeting

for Margie

we rode past the same mountains

on different days of rain

those massive greens gaped

as if a bolo

had struck

flesh and bone

revealing the most fertile soil

your skin made you stand out

from everyone else in that bus

three years had passed

since the last major shifts

of the heart of the earth

beneath, and everyone born there

still remembered that awesome power

I was two days behind you

bearing no hope or grudge, but lost

rushed through lush monsoon greens,

browns that clung to tires, shoes,

exposed skin, villages with no names

or none that lingered in the mind

of strangers and wanderers

you were not yet part of my world

we kept moving without knowing the other

those sharp bends came

at unpredictable moments,

momentum and shuddering metal

forced limbs to touch,

shifted belongings

for a while you stayed in Banaue, in fear and awe

all on your own, your eyes going a deeper blue

then that morning came with you

burdened by a backpack

of clothes and the barest possessions

I tried in vain

to ignore that blueness

and all the world came to that moment

and all the world was stilled, silenced

March 2008

-o-

This first appeared in Alien to Any Skin. It is the second of 14 love poems from I am posting this February.

Filed under: 14 Love Poems from Baha-bahagdang Karupukan and Alien to Any Skin, Asia, Fragments and Moments Tagged: Alien to Any Skin, Baha-bahagdang Karupukan, Jim Pascual Agustin, Philippines, poetry, UST Publishing House

Butterfly Net Moment 1

I can’t think of anyone who has ever managed to capture a field mouse that was trapped in a bathroom using a butterfly net. It was obviously as terrified as I was. No, no photos to prove it, I had my hands full. Here is one from a South African website:

photo from biodiversityexplorer.com

It was a  cute mouse with white stripes on its back. Probably the same one that was teasing our house-imprisoned cat, Caspian, by running back and forth along the side of the the glass sliding door. A mouse with a sense of humor deserves an open field and not a bathroom prison – or poison!

So I let it out at least 50 metres away from our door. No doubt it will find its way back to cause more mischief.

Here is my silly doodle of it. haha

Filed under: Butterfly Moments, Creatures

Awit Amats

Awit Amats

Lasing na lasing ngayon sa labis-labis

na kalungkutan ang langit.

Kay pula ng kanyang iisang mata,

dugo lamang ang nakikita.

Walang talim ng bituin

na hindi tumarak at nanatili

sa madilim na kaibuturan

nitong langit.

Ang mga batang nagbalak

magtaguan, pinakaripas pauwi

nitong pasuray-suray na titig

ng buwan.

Kaming mga binigo lamang

ang may lakas-loob

harapin ang katinuang

tinabunan ng hapdi,

Bigkasing pag-ibig

at pag-ibig pa rin

ang nakalalango, nakababaliw,

ang tanging magpapalaya

Sa mga paniking

nakabitin, nagpapabigat

sa mga sanga ng damdamin.

Patawarin ang mga lasing.

-o-

This poem appears in Baha-bahagdang Karupukan which was shortlisted for the National Book Award in the Philippines.

This is the first poem in my “14 Love Poems” set for matangmanok readers.   A translation attempt in English will be posted soon.

Filed under: Literary News & Articles, Mga Tula / Poetry, poetry, Uncategorized Tagged: Baha-bahagdang Karupukan, Jim Pascual Agustin, Philippines, poetry, sci-fi

14 Love Poems – an introduction

For 14 days I will be posting love poems from my two books published by the University of Santo Tomas Publishing House, Baha-bahagdang Karupukan and Alien to Any Skin. Call it a promotional gimmick, a teaser of sorts, to find new readers. Yes, that’s mainly what it is. But it’s also a declaration that despite all the evils, all the wars, all the human rights violations that take place in various parts of the world, it is love that sees us all through. Not anger. Not hatred.

Love.

Get on the ride. But be warned. This can get muddy. Oh, and if you are in Manila, my books should be easy enough to find in various bookstores. Mary Martin Booksellers and Kabayan Central also stock them online.

 

Here is a list of the poems as I post them.

Awit Amats

-o-

Filed under: Introduction, Literary News & Articles, Mga Tula / Poetry, poetry, Uncategorized Tagged: Alien to Any Skin, Baha-bahagdang Karupukan, Jim Pascual Agustin, Philippines, South Africa, UST Publishing House

Coffee for Children

I don’t give coffee to my kids. But some kids are lucky to have even just that for the day. Here is a good cause that is worth supporting. If you are in a position to make a donation to KA ESKWELA, please seriously consider doing so.

HUNGER IN CATANDUANES

Filed under: Uncategorized

5-7-5

photo from The Houseboat

The Houseboat published a few of my attempts at writing haiku. Rather than posting them here, I urge you to follow THIS LINK.

Filed under: poetry, Uncategorized

I Forgot to Blow My Horn, Stupid Coral Reef Didn’t Get Out of My Way

I Forgot to Blow My Horn, Stupid Coral Reef Didn’t Get Out of My Way

This is how to treat your allies… ALL LIES.

Those painful moments in history come rushing back. How blind we were, and how blind we remain. They continue to use us in many ways, delivering death to the innocent, to anyone who gets in the way. Any story will do. They get what they want, pay you with your own blood or the blood of those whose only fault was to have some valuable resource under their feet, in their waters, above their roofs.

In another narrative, not this one, there will be some kind of justice, if not an awakening. Or so we hope. We forge on in ways their countless weapons of destruction – mindless as their leaders – cannot comprehend.

-o-

Read the article from The Huffington Post

Just an afterthought… this is a good way to overstay in a territory that does not belong to the US. Replacement parts apparently need to be ordered from China. Hmmm… Parts made in China. Destruction designed in the US. Countless dead left in various locations both identified and unidentified.

What could they possibly do to while away the more than 90 days while doing “repairs”? How about an excursion here and there, with bombs perhaps?

“No, no, no, the US Military does not do anything to violate human rights anywhere in the world. We have a good track record. Just ask William Blum!”

Filed under: Uncategorized

Poem for Palestinian Samer Issawi Who is on Hunger Strike to Draw Attention to Israel’s Human Rights Violations

[image error]

Hunger Strike

for Samer Issawi

version 2

The stomach is not a beast to be caged

or tamed. It is no more than a sack

to be filled and emptied.

Those who clutch the keys

to your prison cell believe their fists

are not made of skin and bones,

that blood only flows

one direction.

With the world watching,

they are begging you now

to open your mouth and chew

what they can easily

take away.

-o-

Here is a link to one of the sites with some information on his struggle.

Filed under: Fragments and Moments, Imperialism, Life in a different world, Mga Tula / Poetry, Middle East, poetry, politics, terrorism, Uncategorized Tagged: administrative detention, human rights, hunger strike, illegal settlements, International Law, Israel, Israeli apartheid, Palestine, Samer Issawi