Saturday, August 22, 2020

Buwan Ng Wika

FLORANTE BOUND to a big higuera or balete tree. This famous soliloquy of Francisco Balagtas' hero in a dark Albanian forest reverberates in my brain from an advertisement of a Manila memorial park called Himlayang Pilipino when my siblings and I were kids, watched on our neighbor's black-and-white Radiowealth console TV when the dog was fed and dishes done after dinner and mother said yes. The stanza was translated into English by Luisa Igloria who writes a poem a day and is Virginia's Poet Laureate. I have a grit of discomfort with her translation of the words "lilo" which in Mindoro means "traitor" and "ininis" which means "suffocated" as in overcome by coronavirus, so I had to do my take.

Sa loob at labas ng bayan kong sawi
Kaliluha’y siyang nangyayaring hari
Kagalinga’t bait ay nalulugami,
Ininis sa hukay ng dusa’t pighati.

Inside and out of my broken town,
The tears are the king,
Good and kind are getting tired,
irritated in the pit of martyrdom and grief.
                        --Francisco Balagtas, Florante at Laura, trans. by Luisa Igloria

Inside and out of my ill-fated land,
Treachery reigns supreme,
Righteousness and reason are sunk in defeat,
smothered in a grave of suffering and grief.

                        --My Take

Fig tree next to an abandoned military facility on a hill above the city of Sarande in Albania

Saturday, August 15, 2020

The Good Bride

AND THERE SHE IS. Not in a sham marriage but one with a hairy roasted wild boar. "Although the courtship period has a varied set of rules and ceremonials, the marriage itself is as simple as possible. After the consent of the parents has been obtained, the unceremonious first sleep of both the spouses together is considered as wedlock itself," according to Mangyan Heritage Center. And true to her nature as a shy, self-effacing Mangyan girl, she chooses a quiet life deep in the jungle, far from the prying eyes of land-hungry lowlanders.

The groom was waiting
And here came the bride
This hidden wedge high up the branches seemed like the spot
Where she could make a happy home, singing an ambahan. Maybe to a baby?

Ako gabay putyukan
Ako dayo mangaptan
Baliti nan gubayan
Nakan kis-ab sugutan 
Bunglo kasagunsunan
Ho bay si dis mangaptan
Sa sanga panulusan
Bilog bag-o sangbayan

I'm a common honeybee.
I don't want to settle down
at the side of the fig tree.
The reason: because I saw
many marks of ownership.
The place where I'll settle down
is a branch close to the top.
Only there will I be glad.
                    
                    --Ambahan 216 ("Marriage" from Treasure of a Minority, trans. by A. Postma)

Sunday, August 9, 2020

Bridget The Midget And Goliath

GIANT FICUS salicaria '89 and miniature orchid Haraella retrocalla. Is this unlikely New York marriage possible to kick this growing season up a high notch? Will it work sa pangarap lang? Abangan!

Front: for the grand finale
Back: the epiphyte's alley
Left side: a longer pot is obviously needed to stabilize the center of gravity
Right side: the kneeling giant
Close-up of the nebari
Bridget the midget and her citrus-scented blossom: is she up for the fantasy?