A POEM FOR LEONARD CO

ON A CHANCE ENCOUNTER* WITH A FRIEND:

A POEM FOR LEONARD CO

-  Nonilon Q. Queano

     “LEONARD CO’S life (which lasted a few weeks short of 57 years)

was much too brief, but it was a life that overflowed with professional

 accomplishments and friendships.

     Friends are ephemeral, ships passing by in the night as the saying goes.

Leonard built friendships that spanned the years.”

                          - Michael Tan, “Pinoy Kasi, Leonard Co,”

                           Philippine Daily Inquirer, 12/01/2010.

I would have thought I knew

Bright days from dreary dark

And seen red dawns

Breaking but clearly

Upon forests and greening trees;

I would have thought

There always would be singing,

Even from voids of blue

Though roads creep out

As chance meetings come and go.

It was even perhaps with bravado

That I regarded contradictions

And struggles, inevitable

Oh I could project them all

Confidently,

With the palmate light of wisdom,

Until it happened.

We met in a crowded mall

(Of all places),

I tagged him on the shoulder

As he walked past,

 Instantly, he beamed,

His chinky eyes cusped behind glasses

(I had always looked at him amusedly,

Like I would at some strange soul

I’d meet every now and then)

We hardly talked but connected

As old friends who knew so little of each other,

Briefly, sealed our friendships in some half-hug,

At parting,

Then walked our separate ways so nonchalantly

I had not even had time to think

How long  it would take us to meet again.

But it was quick

A few days, his bullet riddled body was splashed

On the front page of the dailies,

With the story of how soldiers

Allegedly mistook him for an NPA rebel,

Shot him then and there.

The look of horror drawn on his face,

His arms covering up as he begged for mercy.

Leonard Co, the much- respected, much-loved

Lead botanist in the country,

The great scientist taxonomist who discovered

Rafflesia leonardi, the plant that bore his name.

Leonard Co, the poet-friend I hardly knew.

What arrogance had I to believe that I understood fully:

That I could explain the contradictions in capitalism,

The struggle against imperialist plunder,

Life and death and the romance of split selves,

The sun, the moon, greenfields, forests, and mountains;

Yet through it all, hard put to making out

The idiocy of the band of killer soliders

Who murdered my poor friend.

And I had not even time to think

Of when or if ever we would meet again.

*Three or four days before the murder of Leonard Co, I bumped into him at SM North Mall on that heavily congested narrow corridor bridge between D’Block and the old, main building.

A GUERILLA FIGHTER'S PLEDGE

A GUERILLA FIGHTER’S PLEDGE

- Noni V. Queano/5December2010

(Translated by the author from his original Tagalog poem, “Panata ng Mandirigma”)

After goodbyes are said  or memories forgot,

Loneliness would sometimes come

Suddenly, like a woman in black,

Emerging from the dark forest.

But always the guerilla will dash out to flee,

A twister speeding,

A hurricane blasting the void.

Yet his comrades will not notice

In their silent trek.

The many times spent serving the masses

Would  have been enough to make him forget.

Yesterday was the people’s march

Against the education budget cuts,

To continue to sound the call for justice

For the murdered farmers at the Hacienda,

For the murder of Leonard Co,

To denounce  the plagiarism incident at the Supreme Court,

For the 58 innocent victims of the Ampatuan massacre,

To give support to the impoverished in the kuliglig assault,

And today,  THE HUNGER STRIKE TO DEMAND FREEDOM FOR THE MORONG 43

(Alas, when will the goddamned President ever learn?)

What if the muse leaves?

How will the self measure up

In the face of poverty, injustice, and grief over their dead afflicting the masses?

The guerilla fighter will carry on the struggle

And the poet, always keep eye on

The mountain, forest, and greenfields.

PANATA NG MANLALAKBAY

PANATA NG MANDIRIGMA

- Noni V. Queano/5December2010

Tila nakaitim na dilag,

Minsa’y dadalaw ang panglaw,

Pagkaraang mamaalam o dapuan ng alaala.

Bubulaga sa dilim ng gubat.

Ngunit lagi’y mapapaigtad at pupulas,

Ang gerilyerong ipu-ipo sa tulin,

Tila unos na hahampas sa kawalan.

Wala namang mamamalay ang kasama.

Sa tahimik na paglakad.

Ilang panahong pakikipamuhay sa masa’y

Sapat na ring makalimot.

Kahapon, ang martsang bayan

Laban sa kaltas-badyet sa edukasyon,

Sa kawalan ng hustisya,

Sa magsasakang pinatay sa asyenda,

Sa pagpaslang kay Leonard Co,

Sa plahiyarismo ng huwes ng Kataas-taasang hukuman,

Sa limampu’t walong minasaker sa Ampatuan,

Sa inaping mga dukha ng kuliglig

At ngayo’y ang hunger strike

Ng apatnapu’t tatlong health workers sa Morong

Na sukat lang ikinulong.

(A, kailan pa matututo ang tinamaan ng lintik na pangulo!)

Ano ba kung ang musa’y mamaalam?

Papaano susukatin ang sarili

Sa harap ng masang nalugmok

Sa hirap, inhustisya, dalamhati sa napaslang?

Patuloy ang manlalakbay sa paglaban

At makata’y patuloy ring magmamasid

Sa bundok, gubat, at parang.

SYLLABUS FOR POETRY WORKSHOP 1

POETRY WORKSHOP 1

Syllabus

References:

Della Volpe, Galvano. Critique of Taste. New York:  New Left Books, 1978.  (CT)

Adorno, Theodor W. Notes to Literature.Volume 1. Translated by Shierry Weber Nicholsen.  New York:  Columbia University Press, 1991.  (NL)

Eagleton, Terry and Drew Milne, eds. Marxist Literary Theory, A Reader. Cambridge, Massachusetts:  Blackwell Publishers, Inc., 1996.    (MLT)

Perrine, Laurence and Thomas R. Arp.  Sound and Sence, An Introduction to Poetry.  Orlando, Florida:  Harcourt Brace and Company, 1992. (SS)

Gross, Harvey and Robert McDowell. Sound and Form in Modern Poetry. 2^nd Edition. Michigan: The University of Michigan Press, 1996.  (SFMP)

Hosek, Chaviva and Patricia Parker. Lyric Poetry, Beyond New Criticism. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1985.  (LPBNC)

Forche, Carolyn.  Against Forgetting: Twentieth Century Poetry of Witness. New York:  W.W. Norton & Company, 1995. (AF)

I.  DEFINITIONS/THEORY

Selections from Galvano Della Volpe, Critique of Taste, including, “Image versus Idea,” (15-19); “The Poetic Discourse,”  (20 – 23);  “History as Humus,” (24 -25); “II.  The Semantic Key to Poetry;” and “the Semantic Dialectic” (171 – 200).

T.W. Adorno, “On Lyric Poetry and Society,”  CT, 37-54.

Ernst Bloch, “Marxism and Poetry (1935),” in MLT, 84 – 90.

II. FORM:  Elements, Devices, Modes, Conventions

Perrine and Arps’s Sound and Sense will be used as a kind of general textbook as it presents most, if not all, of the elements of poetry, including,  “Denotation and Connotation, Imagery, Figurative Language – simile, metaphor, personification, apostrophe, metonymy; symbol, allegory; paradox, overstatement, understatement, irony; allusion, meaning and idea, tone, musical devices, rhythm and meter, sound and meaning, and pattern”), plus two chapters on “bad poetry and good” and “good poetry and great.”

(Illustrations of the various elements may be derived from sample “good poems,” written  either in Filipino or English, specifically those appearing on FB and in Arkibo.)

“Prosody as Rhythmic Cognition,” SFMP, 8 – 21.

“Imagism and Visual Poetry,” SFMP, 99 – 124.

Northrop Frye, “Approaching the Lyric,”  LPBNC, 31 -37.

Jonathan Culler, “Changes in the Study of the Lyric,” LPBNC, 38-54.

John Hollander, “Breaking Into Song:  Some Notes on Refrain,”  LPBNC, 73-92.

John Brenkman, “The Concrete Utopia of Poetry:  Blake’s “A Poison Tree,” LPBNC, 182-192.

David Bromwich, “Parody, Pastiche, and Allusion,” LPBNC, 328-344.

III.  POETRY AND IDEOLOGY/THE USES OF POETRY

T.W. Adorno, “Commitment (1962),” MLT, 187-203.

Etienne Balibar and Pierre Macherey, “On Literature as an Ideological Form,” MLT, 275-295.

Carolyn Forche, “’Introduction’ to Against Forgetting,” AF, 29-48.

(Sample poems from Against Forgetting will be read to illustrate the main points about the uses and functions of poetry in the struggle.)

IV.  WORKSHOPS on poems written by participants. (This part may also include a demonstration of how social and political issues may precisely be written into the poem with full aesthetic effect and impact.)

V.  PROJECTS, PLANS,  TASKS  (Arkibong Bayan, et al,, c/o Mon)

WRITING ACTIVITY: Each participant should be able to write, at least, one lyric poem during the course for presentation and submission to the workshop.

Prepared by:

NONI V. QUEANO/5December2010

THE POET IN THE REVOLUTION

THE POET IN THE REVOLUTION

- Nonilon V. Queano/27November2010

 Translated by the the poet himself from his original Tagalog poem, "Ang Makata Sa Pakikibaka"

            “The guerilla is like a poet.”

                              -Jose Ma. Sison

         

          (Also partly inspired by Pia Montalban’s

          “Ang Umibig ng Makata.”)

Always the poet dwells in me.

Like the wind, she will blow gusts of poems

To quell the sun’s heat,

Even if for one instant.

I will gather her dreams of freedom and smell their fragrance,

Like sampagita or ilang-ilang blossoms,

To strengthen my faith,

While traversing forests and mountains.

The fierce rhythms of her verses will dictate

My bullet’s aim,

The music of her poems dissolve, like hot liquid,

The loneliness and weariness that come silently

Over plains and forests by day or night,

Her metaphors of struggle

Will be bullets for my gun,

And the fire of her love will burn in my heart

Every time I live with the masses

But if the poet should also be my lady love,

I would wish that she were beside me

Even for a brief moment,

So I can kiss, hold her.

Whisper to her that tomorrow when I leave

It would not be to depart,

No, I would not say goodbye,

Her poetry and my gun

Will always find each other.

ANG MAKATA SA PAKIKIBAKA

ANG MAKATA SA PAKIKIBAKA

-  NONI V. QUEANO/27November2010

            “The guerilla is like a poet.”      

                                                -Jose Ma. Sison

Palagi’y kasama ko ang makata

Na tulad ng hangi’y bubugso ng tula

Upang pahupain ang tindi ng araw,

Kahit isang iglap,

Mga pangarap niya’y aking pipitasin’t

Sasamyu-samyuin

Tila ilang-ilang o sampagita,

Na pantawid-loob

Habang binabagtas ang gubat at bundok.

Bangis ng ritmo niya’y

Pansipat sa bala,

Awit ng tula niya’y likidong tutunaw,

Ng panglaw o balisa sa gabi at araw,

Sa parang at gubat

Ang metapora niya ng pakikibaka’y

Bala ng baril ko,

At pusyaw ng pag-ibig niya’y iniisip ko rin

Kung makaulayaw ang masang minahal.

Subalit kung makata’y dilag ko ring sinta,

Papangarapin kong siya’y makapiling

Kahit na sandali,

Mahagkan, mayakap

At maibulong kong bukas paglisan ko’y

Di ako yayao, di magpapaalam,

Tulad ng baril ko at ng kanyang tula,

Hindi matatapos ang paghahanapan.

Syllabus for Creative Writing 10

SYLLABUS FOR CW10
(Creative Writing for Beginners)
2ND Semester 2010-2011

Course Description: A workshop exploring the potentials of creative writing as expression, as discipline and as a way of thinking about the society in which we live.
Prerequisite: none
Textbooks:
Mcquillan, Martin, ed. The Narrative Reader. London and New York: Routledge, 2000. (NR)
Gross, Harvey and Robert McDowell. Sound and Form in Modern Poetry. 2nd Edition. Michigan: The University of Michigan Press, 1996.
Volpe, Galvano Della. Critique of Taste. London and New York: Verso, 1991.
Forche, Carolyn, ed. Against Forgetting, Twentieth Century Poetry of Witness. New York and London: Norton & Company, 1991.
Brandt, George W., ed. Modern Theories of Drama. A Selection of Writings on Drama and Theater 1850 - 1990. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1998.

READINGS

Narrative

Selections from: Martin Mcquillan, The Narrative Reader.

Plato, The Republic, Chapter XXV, ‘The Allegory of the Cave,’ 37.
Aristotle, from The Poetics, ‘Plot,’ 39.
Mikhail Bakhtin, from The Dialogic Imagination, ‘Forms of time and the Chronotope in the Novel: Notes toward a Historical Poetics,” 53.
Wayne Booth, from The Rhetoric of Fiction, 69.
Roland Barthes, ‘Introduction to the Structural Analysis of Narratives,’ 109.;
Barbara Hernstein Smith, ‘Narrative Versions, Narrative theories,’ 138.
John Berger, ‘Stories,’ 170.
Judith Roof, from Come As You Are: Sexuality and Narrative, 212.
Wolfgang Iser, ‘A Conversation with Wayne Booth,’ 245.
Dorrit Cohn, from Transparent Minds: Narrative Modes for Presenting Consciousness in Fiction,’ 250.
Paul Ricoeur, ‘Narrative Time,’ 255.
Fredric Jameson, from The Political Unconscious: Narrative as Socially Symbolic Act, 266.
Samuel Weber, ‘Capitalizing History: Thoughts on The Political Unconscious,’ 269.


Writing Exercise 1: A piece of narrative or story of not less than 300 words.

Poetry
From: Harvey Gross and Robert Mcdowell, Sound and Form in Modern Poetry.
‘Prosody as Rhythmic Cognition,’ 8 – 21.
‘Imagism and Visual Poetry,’ 99 – 124.

Selections from:
Della Volpe, Galvano. Critique of Taste. 1991.

Carolyn Forche, ‘Introduction,’ Against Forgetting. 29 – 48.

Writing Exercise 2: A lyric poem, preferably social or socially relevant.

Drama

From: George W. Brandt, Modern Theories of Drama.

Eric Bentley, ‘Melodrama,’ 35.
Victor Turner, ‘Are There Universals of Performance in Myth, Ritual, and Drama? (1989),’ 62.
Erwin Piscator, ‘The Programme of the Proletarian Theatre (1920),’ 220.
Bertolt Brecht, ‘A Short Organum for the Theatre (1948),’ 232.
Marvin Carlson, ‘Psychic Polyphony (1986),’ 288.

Writing Exercise 3: A short, or one-act play.

Course Requirements: 3 or 4 unit exams on the readings
Writing Exercises
Final Exam (optional)
Group Reports (in powerpoint presentation format)
Workshops

Prepared by:
NVQUEANO/22November2010

TANAGANGLES

TANAGANGLES

How long has it been that we've

Each other known? Decades? Ah!

More. No FB then. But we’ve

Been friends. Happy birthday! Ah!

-  Noni/9November2010

FORTY-THREE HEARTS

FORTY-THREE HEARTS

(In honor of the Morong 43)

-  Nonilon V. Queano/6November2010

(Translated by the author from his original poem in Filipino, “Apatnapu’t Tatlong Puso”)  FREE THE 43 NOW!

It takes no effort to understand that a crime doer

Needs be sent to prison.

No.

One would not mind being punished

If to repay what one owes,

Indeed, the heart would do penance

Happily to find peace afterwards.

But it was an occasion to serve and show love,

Forty-three hearts offering care:

Doctors, nurses, health workers, midwives

Coming to visit the less fortunate,

Bound by a mission to help,

Bringing medicines to the sick and needy.

Thus, when a batallion of soldiers attacked

And accused them falsely of being outlaws;

When they were taken and blindfolded,

Even the hut where the forty-three hearts rested

Stood aghast,

The wind gusts stopped,

And the whole land was in shock,

They could not fathom

Why they who healed and cared for the poor

Were handcuffed, taken and treated worse than criminals,

Abused gravely just short of being murdered with bullets

       by evil men.

The forty-three hearts would not have minded

(Two pregnant mothers even had to give birth in prison)

If the law on right and wrong had not been violated:

How it is that criminals celebrate,

While hearts that served the sick and  the poor

Are now punished.

It takes no effort for even the unschooled

To understand

When the people rise and fists go ablaze

To right the wrong and spread light,

Like a furnace fiercely exploding in bad weather

Or the unbroken tolling of bells when heaven grieves,

For the forty-three hearts that are true and pure,

We will carry the struggle until freedom is won.

APATNAPU'T TATLONG PUSO

APATNAPU’T TATLONG PUSO

(Alay sa Morong 43)

-- Nonilon V. Queano/6Nobyembre2010

Hindi naman mabigat na unawaing mabilanggo

Ang maysala,

Hindi.

Hindi sana iindahin ang parusa

Kung may dapat pagbayaran,

Bagkus, puso’y magtitika’t

Ligayang mapapanatag pagkaraan.

Ngunit yao’y okasyon ng pagsisilbi at paglingap,

Apatnapu’t tatlong pusong nag-alay ng kalinga:

Mga doktor, narses, tagaluwal ng sanggol

Na isang araw ay dumalaw sa mga kapuspalad,

Pinagbuklod  ng adhikang makatulong,

May hatid na panlunas sa maysakit na mahirap

Kaya’t nang lusubin ng sambatalyong sundalo’t

Paratangang tagalabas;

Nang hinuli’t piniringan,

Pati dampang pahingahan ng apatnapu’t tatlong puso’y

Nagtatakang napamaang,

Bugso ng hangin’y huminto sa paghihip,

At kalupaa’y natigagal,

Tila hindi maniwalang

Silang nagbibigay-lunas at nag-alay sa mahihirap

Pinosasan, kinaladkad masahol pa sa kriminal,

Inabuso’t kulang na lang na bistayin sa bala ng mga hunghang.

Hindi sana iindahin ng apatnapu’t tatlong puso

(Dalawa sa kanila’y inabutan pa ng pagluwal

Ng kanilang sanggol sa kulungan),

Kung hindi lamang nalabag ang batas ng tama at kamalian:

Papaanong nagpipista ang kriminal

At mga pusong naglingkod sa maysakit na hikahos

Ngayo’y pinaparusahan.

Hindi naman mahirap na maunawa

Kahit na ng taong mangmang.

Kung ang bayan'y bumalikwas at kamao'y mangagliyab,

Upang ituwid ang mali at ikalat ang liwanag,

Kagaya ng sagitsit ng nagsusungit na panahon

O di maampat na  kampana kapag langit ay luhaan

Para sa apatnapu’t tatlong pusong matatapat at dalisay,

Ang paglaban’y walang patid hanggang laya’y masilayan.

TAO, ANONG KARAPATAN MO ANG NILABAG NILA NGAYON?

TAO, ANONG KARAPATAN MO ANG NILABAG NILA NGAYON?

- Nonilon V. Queano/27Oktubre2010

Ninakawan ka ba ng laya,

Binusalan ba ang bibig

Nang magsabi ng totoo,

Inalipin, ginahasa ng amo mo,

Kinulangan ng suweldo,

Tinatratong parang hayop,

Pinasamba sa diyos nilang hindi sa ‘yo,

Pinalayas, sinunog ba ang bahay mo,

Pinatay ba o dinukot ang ‘yong anak

O asawa o ang mahal mo na lumaban at nangarap.

Tao,

Karapatan mo na mabuhay nang payapa

Karapatan mong lumigaya nang may dangal at malaya!

BAHAGHARI

BAHAGHARI

- Nonilon V. Queano/27Oktubre2010

Ngiti sana ang salubong

Sa karit ng bahagharing

Pinaduklay ng tikbalang,

Awit sana sa ganda ng sabunot

Ng habagat na palayan.

Ngunit pagal na ang puso,

Hilam sa gutom ang mata,

Humal ang dilang aawit,

Kaya karit ng dilag na bahaghari

Pantatagpas sa gahaman.

THE BEAUTY OF THE STRUGGLE

THE BEAUTY 0F THE STRUGGLE

(For Tanya, Kimberly, Ian* and all our young comrades and heroes of the revolution)

-  By NONILON V. QUEANO/ 4 February 2010

The beauty of the struggle is as that of mountains

Forests, rivers

Where dreams of freedom explode

In song upon the lips of our most beloved young comrades.

They drew with their hearts

Of fire and love on the people’s canvass

The most pure searing light that flashed on wasted faces

Of women and children;

The sheen on fallen workers’ blood;

Limned landscapes of ashen rains

Falling on bones, peasant huts, hovels;

Bodies tearing in hunger hues of bile green

Pale yellow, livid gray,

And the unquiet night.

Truly, were it but painting, poem or song,

A revolution would have been exquisite

As a white sea, a purple mountain, a violet sky,

And the dulcet smiles of Tanyas, Kimberlys,  Ians

And friends and heroes we fondly remember

Posing with the masses with their paintbrushes, pens, and guns.

But it is true.

The enemies prowl the night like ghouls

Spraying bullets on those who love most purely:

The poets and singers of the revolution

Who fought with us on the eternal day;

And it is true that we feel pain,

That we cry with raised fists to honor their memory,

That we will hold the gun with more passion and grace,

Exquisitely as in a painting, song, or poem on the people’s canvass

Drawn by young heroes and warriors who’ll come after us

Signing the wind with love and fire,

Fighting unendingly,

Until the dawn of freedom.

*Tanya Domingo, 20, and Ian Dorado, 19, were U.P. Diliman Fine Arts students who did cultural work with the masses of Brgy. Sta. Rita in Bulacan and were killed by the military on January 15, 2010.  Kimberly “Kimay” Jule Luna was a student leader at MSU-IIT, Iligan City, who went underground and was killed by soldiers in December 2009.

ASYENDA

ASYENDA

-Nonilon V. Queano/16Oktubre2010

Ako’y isinilang, lumaki’t tumanda

Sa asyendang bukid ng aking ninuno

Mundo’y do’n gumulong, tulad sa gunita

Tinagpas ng hirap, kinain ng laho

Ang musmos na hubo at hubad sa araw

May kuwerdas ang dibdib, ang balat ay hapit

Patinga-tingala at palagaw-lagaw

Limot kung kailan kumita ng langit

Ang inang kumandong sa kaniyang anak

Sa oras ng gutom, sakit, pagtitiis

Minsan’y sakada rin, halibas ay itak

Lahat pati puso’y sinimpan sa hapis

Ang amang nahutok sa pakikitalad

Sa hirap at pagod, gutom, pagdarahop

Nag-asam ng laya, nangarap lumipad

Ngunit mula’t mula’y kalos na ang salop

Walang ibabagwis ang sahod-pulubi

Ipupugal lamang nang paikot-ikot

Paano uusad kung ni ang pambili

Ng pagkain, damit, lahat di masimot

Ganito ang buhay sa asyenda namin

Bawa’t henerasyon’y kuwentong susulatin

Mistulang bilanggo kung aming limiin

At ang kuwentong ito’y uulit-ulitin

Subalit mayroong bagong pangyayari

Nitong huling araw na di pa nasulat

Mga manggagawa sa asyenda dini

Ang nagsibalikwas tila nangamulat

Kasabay din noon may mga nautas

Sa putok ng baril ng guwardiyang bayaran

Ngunit hudyat yaon ng lalong paglakas

Ng kilos protesta dito sa tubuhan

Yaong kuwentong yaon'y nais kong awitin

Ilalahad bukas at sana’y limiin,

Yaon din ang araw na sa papawirin

Sana’y makalipad kauring alipin.

ALL THE CHILDREN SING

ALL THE CHILDREN SING: IN PRAISE OF CHARICE, IYAZ, MILEY CYRUS, JUSTIN BIEBER, ET AL.

- Nonilon V. Queano

                        “All the children sing:

Hey, Bungalow Bill, what did you kill, Bungalow Bill?

Hey, Bungalow Bill, what did you kill, Bungalow Bill?”

                        - The Beatles, “Bungalow Bill”

                        -

The children will sing no matter what color

Through the winter haze or in summer anywhere

Though elsewhere skies tear up like black silk women wear in mourning

After the men shall have fallen in battle

But today is a feast of songs served on flaming platters by boys and girls,

A dredging of the soul in high notes, profound or shrill,

Rapping rolling thunders to high heavens, plumbing deep earth

And always certain of winning

The world has not seen such dazzling play of sound and colors

Since the old South, when, like black weeds, Mandingos picked magnolias,

And sparrows and canaries swooped down on cotton fields in dead heat.

It must be quite different now with children at the helm,

In motley tones of Charice, Iyaz, Justin Bieber, Myley Cyrus, Imparato

Filipinos, Americans, Canadians, Koreans, Italians, Europeans, etcetera

Singing mighty tunes of “We are the world,” “In This Song,” “Pyramid,” “The Climb,” etcetera

With David Foster, Oprah, Ellen, and the rest, in tow.

The children will sing no matter where

On “YouTube,” yes,

Where even men in orange outfit show off their dancing

To MJ’s “Thriller”

If singing were a weapon, Charice would now be Queen.

What a wonderful world, we’d say

But grown-ups never learn.

Elsewhere, bombs fall,

“Hurt lockers,” inhabit the desert mountains still,

The human heart dies in anger

Death comes certain as sun and rain

In that country, where music plays in gun blasts

And no poem rings

Elsewhere , in that country where children will but may not sing.

KAY BEATO

PAANO BANG ALALAHANIN: ALAY KAY BEATO, KAIBIGAN AT KASAMA

Noni V.Queano/26 Hunyo 2010

Papaano bang alalahanin ang kaibigan at kasama

Kaumpukan at kapulong sa paglaban

Minsan’y anak, minsan’y ama

At walang pasabi, tulad ng gawi ng karaniwan

Sukat na yayao na lamang na tila ba

Pupunta lang sa trabaho o mag-uula ng kalabaw

O mamamalakaya at sa hapon o umaga’y uuwi rin.

Hindi naman sa di natin maunawa,

Simple lang ‘yan sa diyalektika:

Bawa’t supling ng lupa, dagat, araw

Papagaspas, maglalayag, mananalamin, magmamahal, aawit

Tutugis ng liwanag, sa simula at sa rurok

Hanggang wakas.

Sa tao o bagay yao’y batas.

Bawa’t puno’y may panahong bumubuwal,

Tulad ng paslit na lumaki’t nagkamuwang

Na hamunin ang kidlat,

Tulad ng ama’t ina na sa gubat ay humanap ng pag-asa,

Sana nga masasabi ng naiwang

Babalik din ‘yan sa oras

Papauwi pagkaraang magtagumpay sa labanan.

Kaya saan nga ba ilulugar ang lungkot at dalamhati?

Ang tiyak lang, hindi batas ang tatatak sa gunita

Kundi araw-araw na pagkilos

Pagmamahal na kinuyom sa kamao,

Itinitik sa aklat ng bayang nagsipag-alsa

Ipinakalat sa binusabos na masa

Ikinasa sa gatilyo ng paglaban

Paano nga ba alalahanin ang kasama?

Maliban sa salaminin sa sininta niyang asawa at mga anak

Ang alab ng pagmamahal na lahat tayo’y nakadama,

Walang batas ng simula o ng wakas

At lalaging nagniningas,

Maliban sa ipangakong ang himagsik ng yumao’y

Sulong laging pagliliyabin

Hanggang laya’y pumalaot sa hugpungan

Ng huling pagbabangon, pangangarap at panata.

TAYO'Y ISANG HANAY

TAYO AY ISANG HANAY

(Para sa alaala ni Ka Alex Remollino, Ka Roda, at iba pang bayani ng rebolusyon)

-  NONILON V. QUEANO

    10 Setyembre 2010

Sapagkat tayo’y nagmahal nang wagas sa sinintang bayan,

Nagsilbi sa masa, nag-asam ng laya,

Doon’y nagkikita: may nanay at tatay,  may lolo at lola,

(Tulad ni Ka Roda),

At, mga kabataang

(Tulad ni Ka Alex)

Na suong ang buhay sa pakikibaka.

Walang nakabukod.

Kung hindi man armas,

Ang sukbit ay tula at awit,

Pinagbuklod tayo ng mga panata,

Tulad ng kay Rizal, Bonifacio, Gabriela

Lorena, Eman, Lerry, at maraming iba pa

(Sinlapad ang lista ng langit at lupa),

At ngayo’y,  tulad ni ka Alex,

Tulad ni Ka Roda

Tayo’y nabubuong isang hanay,

Walang nagtatanong kung saang uri nagbuhat

(Bagaman marami ay sa uring salat)

Di na mahalaga kung saan bang siglo o anong dekada

Nang magdalang-liwanag

At, tulad sa gabi ng mga pangarap,

Aawitin natin ang katotohanan at ipamumudmod

At pagsasaluhan,

At payayabungin na isang halaman

Hanggang mamutiktik ng bunga’t bulaklak.

Kung masa’y inapi, ginahasa, pinagnakawan, pinaslang

(Sa isang asyenda, bukirin, o saanmang pook trabahuhan )

Tayo’y libong sulong kagyat nagliliyab

Upang suhayan ang lakad ng bayan,

May mamumuno sa mga aklasan,

(Tulad ni Ka Roda),

Mayroong susulat,

(Katulad ni Alex,

Na ibibida ang bakbakan, ang mga nalagas, pinosasan

Paglago ng hanay, inaning tagumpay)

May aawit at tutula nang buong timyas sa pulang umaga

(Tulad ng Lorena o ng isang Eman)

Para ipaalam

Sa lahat ng lugal, sa lahat ng bayan.

Ngunit hindi bulag ang ating pagsuyo

(Alam natin ‘yan)

Tulad sa butil ng palay na tatahip-tahipin

Sa kumpas ng hangin,

Ipapalaala na lahat ng ito na pinagbuwisan--

Kawalang-hustisya, gutom, hirap,

Baluktot na isip, pagkagahaman, mga pagtataksil,

Kawalang-pag-asa, at pagkalugmok ng pinakadakila sa atin

Ay lagim na niluto sa kawa ng imperyalismong

Kumamkam sa lupa, langit, dagat

At bampira nganing, sisibain tayo hanggang kamatayan.

Subalit, may awit sa mga puso nating di maparam-param;

Di mapugto ang ngiti tuwing may tagumpay,

Tula’y walang ubos kahit na sa bukas

Muli tayong umang sa pakikilaban

A, sa rebolusyon, walang kahulilip ang kaligayahan.

Mayroon ding araw

(Katulad ng ngayon)

Na kalat ang dilim, tila ba uulan

May unos ba kaya?

Puso’y nagluluksa,

At ang dalamhati’y malamig na hanging humihihip-hihip,

Mayroon ding araw

Na buhos ng luha’y ating pipigilin,

Kapag may kasamang nalagas  na akala natin’y laging naririyan,

Kapag may makatang, katulad ni Alex,

O may  manggagawang minahal ng labis, tulad ni Ka Roda

Na habang panahong kaaga-agapay ay bibiglang lilisan

Mayroon ding araw na puspos ng lungkot,

Ngunit lilipas din.

Tulad din sa lahat ng bayang pinaslang,

Pamuling aawit, pamuling tutula, pamuling susulong sa pakikibaka

Tayong isang hanay.

TANAGA

TATLONG TANAGA

1.

Muntik nang mapatula

Sa bomba ng tanaga

Ngunit puno ng luha

43'y di pa laya.

2.

Sige na nga, sige na,

Ang tula ay ikasa

Apatnapu't tatlo ba

P-noy, kailan lalaya?

3. Sigaw ng bayang api

Free the Morong 43

Lumalim na ang gabi

Hustisya'y bakit bingi?

TTATLONG YUGTO NG PAG-IBIG O PAANO BA MAGMAHAL NANG WAGAS

TATLONG YUGTO NG PAG-IBIG O

PAANO BA MAGMAHAL NANG WAGAS

(Sa alaala ni Kasamang Aileen)

- Nonilon V. Queano/28 Setyembre 2010

Una, kailangang ikampay ang isip nating

Nagmahal nang wagas,

Sa imperyong kalawakan,

Tulad ng bulalakaw,

Guguhit ng liwanag sa gaano man kapusikit na dilim,

Upang puso’y bolang apoy na itanim sa gubat,

O kung saan ang sinta’y napapadpad,

Tumutubo lamang ang pag-ibig sa liwanag.

Ikalawa, ang pagkilos na lagi’y buhay sa loob:

Pagmumulat sa masa

Ukol sa imperyalismong sanhi ng hirap at inhustisya

Kahit saang mundo,

Kahit saang kalawakan,

Gaano man katagal,

Pagbuwag sa metapisika

Na nagsabing lahat ng hirap, dusa’t kamangmangan

Ay tadhana ng Diyos sa langit,

Kahit malinaw na ang Diyos ay negosyanteng

Humakot ng yaman sa pangungulimbat

Sa minahan, pananiman, patahian, paminggalan

Nating nagdasal, sumimba, siniphayo, sinalanta

Sa kahangalang ipinakalat nila --

Lulan ng lagim ng mga giyerang kanilang dala-dala saanman --

Na mapalad ang mahirap at nagugutom

Dahil pagpapalain sa kabilang buhay.

Ang bulalakaw na isip lamang ang nakakagagap nito.

Ikatlo, ang pag-aarmas.

Dahil walang tatapos sa salot ng imperyalismo

Kundi rebolusyon,

Tatawagin natin itong pagmamahal nang wagas,

Mula sa pusong nagliliyab,

Pagkaraang payabungin ang kamalayan ng masa:

Ang pag-aalsa.

Pagkaraang pamukadkarin ang pag-ibig sa laya:

Ang digmang bayan na pinanday tuwina

Ng awit, pananalig, at pangarap

Gaano man kapanganib, kalayo, katagal.

Ganoon magmahal nang wagas,

Guguhit ng apoy at liwanag sa kalawakan at gubat,

Yayabong ang pag-ibig,

Tulad ng pag-aalsa,

Wala namang halaga ang buhay kung hindi magmahal,

At paano ba kaya magmahal kung hindi nga wagas.

THREE CHAPTERS OF LOVE OR HOW IT IS TO LOVE TRULY

 (In memory of Kasamang Aileen)
-  Nonilon V. Queano/3October2010

(The author's translation into English of his own poem originally in Filipino, "Tatlong Yugto ng Pag-ibig O Paano Ba Magmahal Nang Wagas")

First, we who truly love
Need unfetter our minds
Across the empire's wide expanse,
Like meteor,
Blazing through the darkest nights with bursts of light,
So the heart could be a ball of fire drilling in the forest,
Or wherever the beloved has hid,
Love grows only in light.

Second, the work always kept alive inside:
Educating the masses
On how imperialism has brought suffering and injustice
Everywhere,
Across every space;
Tearing down the metaphysic
Which proclaimed that all poverty, suffering, and ignorance
Had been decreed by God in heaven,
Even if clearly God was the businessman
Who amassed wealth from plunder
Of mines, farmlands, weaving houses, kitchens
That belonged to us who had prayed, worshipped, were spurned, were devastated
By the wicked lie that they spread --
Borne on the terror of the wars that they unleashed everywhere --
That blessed are the poor and the hungry
For they will be rewarded in the afterlife,
This only the meteoric mind understands.

Third, the bearing of arms.
For nothing will put an end to the plague of imperialism,
But a revolution.
We will call this the love that is true,
From the heart that burns;
After raising the consciousness of the masses:
The uprising;
After seeing the love for freedom blossom:
The people's war wrought constantly
In song, faith, and dreaming
No matter how full of risks, distant, protracted.
That is how it is to love truly.
Drawing fire and light in the vast expanse and in forests,
Love will bloom,
Like the struggle,
For what is life worth if one has not loved,
And how is it to love if love be untrue.

TULA KAY P-NOY

TULA KAY P-NOY

-  Nonilon V. Queano/30 Setyembre 2010

Sakaling datnan ka ng ulirat

Pakiusap po, alalahanin, silang mga nangamatay.

Unahin na natin si Ninoy na Tatay mo

(Mahal mo kaya ang Tatay mo, di kaya po ba?)

Pagkaraan, paslit ka no’n,

Ang sinabi ng mayabang na Pangulong Macoy:

This nation can be great again.

Pero ang salita ay baliw na sa simula,

How can this nation be great again when

Pinagpapatay ang pinakamagagaling nating tao.

Umpisahan na sa Tatay mo

(Na, sa totoo lang,

Bobong-bobo ka kung ikumpara sa pusyaw ng utak,

At gift of gab niya –

Pero kahit na mas magaling ang Tatay mo sa iyo,

Sige na, tatanggapin na naming,

P-Noy, anak ka pa rin ng Tatay mo),

Pero kilo-kilometro na ang listahan ng disappeared at pinaslang

Na magsasaka, manggagawa (pati taga Hacienda Luisita kaya ),

Intelektuwal, guro, estudyante, makata,

Doktor, health worker, pintor, manlilikha,

Evelio Javier, Bobby de la Paz, Johnny Escandor,

Lorena Barros, Eman Lacaba, Lerry Nofuente,

Lando Olalia, Karen Empeño, Sherlyn Cadapan, Jonas Burgos, Kimberly Luna,

Ian Dorado, Tanya Domingo, saka

(Shet, di ko na maalala ang pangalan ng kaibigan ko)

Silang may pinakamatipunong bisig,

Pinakamatatalas na utak,

Pinakadalisay na puso. 

At kaming lahat na ginutom at nilason ng sistemang ito.

P-Noy, P-Noy

Kung sakaling magising ka,

(Na alam naming suntok sa buwan,

Dahil sino ka bang hahamon sa Kaharian ng Kapitalismo),

Sakali lang,

Alam mo na ang gagawin mo:

Magmamartsa ka sa hanay ng sambayanan,
Magtataas ng kamao,
Aawit ng pakikibaka,
Mangangarap ng tunay na kalayaan,
Tututok ng baril sa kalaban
At, malay natin, suntok sa buwan, malay natin

(Tulad ng Tatay at marahil, ng Nanay mo)
Sa tapang at tikas na ipamamalas,
Bayani ka ngang itanghal ng bayan mo.