Found Object

Poem published at Philippine Graphic, the November 5 issue.

maaaring di palaging ganito; kaya ko sinasabi

(e.e. cummings
aking salin)

maaaring di palaging ganito; kaya ko sinasabi
na kung ang ‘yong mga labi, na aking inibig, ay dadampi
sa iba, at kung ang ‘yong malalakas na daliri’y kakapit
sa kanyang puso, parang akin sa di nalalayong panahon,
at kung hihimlay sa mukha ng iba ang tamis ng ‘yong buhok
sa katahimikang wangis nitong alam ko, o sa katulad
na dakilang salitang kumikiwal, kayraming sinasatsat,
nakatayong walang laban sa tapat ng napipintong diwa.

kung magkakaganito; ang sabi ko kung magkakaganito–
ikaw ng aking puso, magparating ng kaunting pasabi,
nang matungo ko s’ya, at mahawakan ang kanyang mga kamay,
at sabihing, Tanggapin mo lahat ng aking kaligayahan.
At saka ako lilingon, at maririnig ang isang ibon
humuhuni sa sukdulang layo ng mga nawalang lupa.

Enfant Terrible

It led a siege in my dreams. The bone giant. I had been training the folks of Quisao to protect their homes.(3) The giant rained stones on us so we had weave our way to the army. Our first wave was levelled.(8) I shifted stategies and instead of rallying a second wave, I decided to leave the villagers to man the defenses against the army. I had to prevent the giant from rejoining its horde. I ran, bouncing from one spike to the other.(14) The giant regained its stature and spat at me. "Just one? What is this an insult? Then I allow me to throw you a pebble. I evaded that but he showered me with stones. I withstood them somehow, gained his back, and severed the leash that held its body together. So it toppled. And the head seemed to me a nipa hut. The very first.(18) It was not much bigger than a dog house. I intended it as a gift to my toddler. I entered its mouth to inspect if it remained a threat. When I was sure it was safe, I motioned for my son to take it. Come, you can carry it, I told him. So my son did. We walked the grove of Los Banos, right along the red tapsilog place and the convenience store and the big chicken place. The people greeted us. But my ears belonged to my boy, with his happy nipa burden, bent and exclaiming all the way: I am a turtle. See? I am a turtle. Mga sipi: 3—A baranggay of Pililla, Rizal. The birthplace of my parents. The patron saint is San Diego de Alcala and, in fact, before Quisao was reduced to the biggest baranggay of Pililla, it was itself a town called Bayan ng San Diego. 8—Although my memory of this episode was choppy (or it was a choppy dream sequence to begin with and no lucidity would be able to retrieve what never existed in this subtle realm), the first wave was destroyed more or less in the following manner. We had successfully separated the leader from his horde. Yet the leader was only playing along, using our strategy against us to create a ruse. I had no way of knowing if my wave was driving the giant away or being lured by it. The giant rolled, shrinking into itself, until it was a rock. Then it stopped. When the wave had gathered to break it's shell open, bone spikes rose from the ground, impaling every villager groin to brain. It was a sky of white and red spikes. 14—This seemed the most clever way to get to the monster alive. I was confident of heroic success. 18—Yes. I was aware of the object sprouting from legend during the dream.

Clint Eastwood

(Gorillaz)

I ain't happy, I'm feeling glad
I got sunshine, in a bag
I'm useless,but not for long
The future is coming on
I ain't happy, I'm feeling glad
I got sunshine, in a bag
I'm useless, but not for long
The future is coming on
It's coming on
It's coming on
It's coming on

Yeah... Ha Ha!
Finally someone let me out of my cage
Now, time for me is nothing 'cause I'm counting no age
Now I couldn't be there
Now you shouldn't be scared
I'm good at repairs
And I'm under each snare
Intangible
Bet you didn't think so I command you to
Panoramic view
Look I'll make it all manageable
Pick and choose
Sit and lose
All you different crews
Chicks and dudes
Who you think is really kickin' tunes?
Picture you gettin' down in a picture tube
Like you lit the fuse
You think it's fictional
Mystical? Maybe
Spiritual
Hearable
What appears in you is a clearer view cos you're too crazy
Lifeless
To know the definition for what life is
Priceless
For you because I put you on the hype shit
You like it?
Gunsmokin' righteous with one token
Psychic among those
Possess you with one go

I ain't happy, I'm feeling glad
I got sunshine, in a bag
I'm useless,but not for long
The future is coming on
I ain't happy, I'm feeling glad
I got sunshine, in a bag
I'm useless, but not for long
The future is coming on
It's coming on
It's coming on
It's coming on

The essence the basics
Without it you make it
Allow me to make this
Childlike in nature
Rhythm
You have it or you don't that's a fallacy
I'm in them
Every sprouting tree
Every child apiece
Every cloud you see
You see with your eyes
I see destruction and demise
Corruption in disguise
From this fuckin' enterprise
Now I'm sucking to your lies
Through Russ, though not his muscles but the percussion he provides
with me as a guide
But y'all can see me now cos you don't see with your eye
You perceive with your mind
That's the inner
So I'm gonna stick around with Russ and be a mentor
Bust a few rhymes so mother fuckers
Remember where the thought is
I brought all this
So you can survive when law is lawless
Feelings, sensations that you thought were dead
No squealing, remember
(That it's all in your head)

I ain't happy, I'm feeling glad
I got sunshine, in a bag
I'm useless, but not for long
The future is coming on
I ain't happy, I'm feeling glad
I got sunshine, in a bag
I'm useless, but not for long
My future is coming on
It's coming on
It's coming on
It's coming on
It's coming on
My future is coming on
It's coming on
It's coming on
It's coming on
It's coming on
My future is coming on
It's coming on
It's coming on
It's coming on
It's coming on
My future is coming on
It's coming on
It's coming on
My future is coming on
It's coming on
It's coming on
My future is coming on
It's coming on
It's coming on
My future

Saan pa magsisimula

ni Ricky M. De Ungria
aking salin

Saan pa magsisimula

kundi mula sa labi ng sugat
na hindi tumatanda?

Ngunit ano mismong sugat
anong bituin, anong sinapupunan,
ang huhubaran
at iinuman?
Anong ipauusal dito
na hindi pa kailanman nasasabi?

Walang mga salita ang mga salita para rito
ni mga kahulugan ang diyos
na mananaog at dadagundong kasama nito,
o ng katotohanan, o isa nitong bersyon.

Anong yelong espasyo ang naririto
upang ikiskis sa rayos ng mga araw ng tag-init,
anong mga katahimikan ang tatabihan sa pag-upo
dito sa lumagapak na dilim.

Sem-end

My sister asked me what I had planned for the endsem. I had no answer, and this surprised me. I thought of sem-end of course, and how that word held within it a liquid promise that I caught though most probably will never use, verbal viscosity aside. Punning remains a low-level technique, Finnegan notwithstanding. What I find curious is how I have been playing with the word without my eye on the clock. All this time. I have dog-trained myself away from the awareness of a break. People think they need it. I can't.

Dry Weave Blanket

I made a blanket out of your pictures
This has been many years in the making
It has been needles and it has been pins
It has been thread across thread across thread
Out of all your photos /See my blanket

Your smile is a thing that’s warm and fluffy
Flat and floating the expanse of your skin
How black the cotton of your scattered eyes
Warm and fluffy how your smile is a thing
Yes I have cornered your face /See how softly

Oh I’m off to the place
Where sands and dreams and salts are framed
And where I’m headed
The moons are square and so are faces
Oh where I’m going
My oceans are always kept in

It has been needles and it has been pins
It has been thread across thread across thread
Warm how your smile is a thing of the past
From all your years I spun out a blanket
It still is needles /Love it still is pins

Oh I’m off to the place
Where sands and dreams and salts are framed
And where I’m headed
The moons are square and so are faces
Oh where I’m going
My oceans are always kept in

Paris, Oktubre 1936

ni Cesar Vallejo
aking salin

Mula sa lahat ng ito ako ang nag-iisang umaalis.
Mula sa bangko lalayo ako, mula sa aking pantalon,
mula sa aking dakilang kalagayan, mula sa aking mga kilos,
mula sa aking bilang na hinati mula gilid hanggang gilid,
mula sa lahat ng ito ako ang nag-iisang umaalis.

Mula sa Champs Elysees o habang ang katakatakang
eskinita ng Buwan ay kumikilo,
umaalis ang aking kamatayan, lumalayo ang duyan,
at pinapaligiran ng mga tao, nag-iisa, pinawalan,
tumalikod ang aking anyong tao
at isa-isang dinispatsa ang mga anino nito.

At iniiwan ko ang lahat, sapagkat ang lahat
ay nananatili upang lalangin ang aking alibay:
ang aking sapatos, ang mata nito, pati ang putik
at maging ang kurba sa siko
ng aking kamisetang nakabuton.

Diamond Sea

(Sonic Youth)

time takes its crazy toll
and how does your mirror grow
you better watch yourself when you jump into it
'cause the mirror's gonna steal your soul

I wonder how it came to be my friend
that someone just like you has come again
you'll never, never know how close you came
until you fall in love with the diamond rain

throw all his trash away
look out he's here to stay
your mirror's gonna crack when he breaks into it
and you'll never never be the same

look into his eyes and you can see
why all the little kids are dressed in dreams
I wonder how he's gonna make it back
when he sees that you just know it's make-believe

blood crystalized as sand
and now I hope you'll understand
you reflected into his looking glass soul
and now the mirror is your only friend

look into his eyes and you will see
that men are not alone on the diamond sea
sail into the heart of the lonely storm
and tell her that you'll love her eternally

time takes its crazy toll
mirror fallin' off the wall
you better look out for the looking glass girl
'cause she's gonna take you for a fall

look into his eyes and you shall see
why everything is quiet and nothing's free
I wonder how he's gonna make her smile
when love is running wild on the diamond sea