Might

Bare-footed, she ran around the empty battlefield...
With an indomitable spirit, she's fortified...


Adrifted, she has lost tight clasp
On a sturdy steel once...
Such steel oversoon rusted by greedy pangs of time...
It was her companion,
her sheath,
her hope...


At one point...she felt forsaken, helpless...
Forthwith, dauntless than ever...


With nothing on her weary hands, she greeted
wild birds and hungry lions...
Will gallantly withstood...


Without steel, but in rest, she'd fix
Her glare
On a four-leaf clover,
Lying softly in her soiled palm,
her bundle of strength...

Lolita

We both have the same brown proud eyebrows,
Green shiny eyes shaped like small almonds..
Wrinkles glorifies her face, sagging skin accentuates
my every sides...
Our cheekbones now out of sight,
as our flesh falls down like curtains as we frown...
We still have the same stretch of smile
That no dim stars can deny,
leaving out that undeniable crack in mine...


We're twins...
But sly eyes won't dare credit...
She was the lovely fragile queen in her youthful years,
I'm the cleft-lipped other, unsweetened...
She's ever the unsparing one,
And I'm evermore the one in dire need of hand...


We cherished the same man...
In the midst of the deafening farce,
I surfaced...
His stark hands chose mine,
And for the first time,
I cradled the vast grandeur of real beauty
In my faint calloused hands...


While the ever alluring other
Condemned hers...

Salamin

Naaaninagan ko sa naka-sungaw na liwanag
Sa iyong mga mata
Na ika'y hapo na...
Marahil, ikaw ang tunay na may sala
Sa pag-hila ng sarili mong gabi
At sa iyong pag-dalangin sa pagbuhos
Ng ulan...


Ramdam ko ang iyong pagtitikis,
ang iyong pagtitiis sa nakabibingi na lamig...
Ninais kong abutin ang iyong mga bisig,
Ngunit tulad mo,
Ang aking mga palad ay namamahinga
Sa basang lupa,
Tulad mo ring nais maka-hagap
ng maligamgam na pag-asa.


Ngunit habang humahawi
Ang itim na kumot ng kalangitan,
Unti-unting sumusungaw
Ang sinag ng liwanag
Na kumislap sa balikat
Nating dalawa...


Tikom ang ating mga labi.
Ngunit sa ating isipan,
Pagugulungin natin
Ang ating mga kapalaran
Nang sabay....

Mates

Hearing my own heavy stomps towards your cave
With my own voice of disapproval...
I keep going
With every sour nerve pulling me back...
Nearing,
Fearing the wolves' eyes
In anticipation...
Nothing of those can go through
My sanctuary, my anxiety...
Amidst cold darkness,
Body's yearning for the blinding light...
Prostrated, praying... 

Anoche

This is the poem I made days after I said the words "I love you" to JR.


Anoche


The stillness of my solitude
Gifts me you as companion;


The coldness of the night breeze
Hands me the feel of your breath;


The sound of the peaceful river
Hears me the calmness of your voice;


The scent of the evening pleasure
Reaches me your smell's pleasantry;


My fingers caressing the smooth grass
Feels me the touch of your hand;


The softness of the grass soil
Presses my body with your embrace;


The warmth of the fire lamp
Splendors me the warmth of your kiss;


The beauty of the stars
Reminds me of your sweet hopes;


The brightness of the moonlight
Illuminates me the light of your smile;


In the serenity of the night,
Bliss of your remembrance lingers...

Extranjero # 1

A poem by Pablo Neruda. This came from his book "Cien Sonetos de Amor" (100 Love Sonnets). The whole book was translated by Stephen Tapscott. It got me really interested since Neruda dedicated the work to his beloved wife, Matilde Urrutia. I was drawn to the sonnets' vivid interpretation with its passionate and amorous feel. Melodramatic but moving.


(Spanish)
LXVI 


No te quiero sino porque te quiero
y de quererte a no quererte llego
y de esperarte cuando no te espero
pasa mi corazon del frio al fuego.


Te quiero solo porque a ti  te quiero,
te odio sin fin, y odindote te nargo,
y la medida de mi amor viajero
es no verte y amarte como un ciego.


Tal vez consumira la luz de enero,
su rayo cruel, mi corazon entero
robindome la llave del sosiego.


En esta historia solo yo me muero
y morire de amor porque te quiero,
porque te quiero, amor, a sangre y fuego.












(English)
66th sonnet


I do not love you--except because I love you,
I go from loving to not loving you,
from waiting to not waiting for you
my heart moves from the cold into


the fire. I love you only because it's you
I love; I hate you no end, and hating you,
and the measure of my changing love for you
is that I do not see you but love you


blindly. Maybe the January light will consume
my heart with its cruel
ray, stealing my key to true


calm. In this part of the story I am the one who
dies, the only one, and I will die of love because I love you,
because I love you, Love, in fire and in blood.

Himlay

Written last September 20, 2008. (On my good friend's little notebook) Thanks, Riel! :)

Himlay

Sinabi ng mga langit,

magpapahinga sa akin ang mga tala...

At habang hawak ang liwanag,

Magliliwanag ang sanlibong pangarap

ng mga hangin na pilit umaabot

sa lamig ng pag-ihip...

Dapuan mo ako, haring araw

ng ala-ala ng mga buwan,

ng mga ulan ng paglingap...

At ako ang gagalaw,

ako ang hihimlay,

ako ang tunay...

Habang sa paglipad ko'y,

Nasaan ka?