Book Launchings: Three in One

Unsaon Pagkaon sa Impiyerno?
ni Cindy Velasquez

Sukara ang kahadlok sa init nga kaha
Aron imong isula sa dukot nga panggoberno

Ibutang sa imong plato samtang
Naay mga yawa sa imong atubangan

Kinamota ug usapa hangtod
mabusog ka uban sa mga bala

Hay...dili na uso ang tinidor ug
Kutsara, mao na, kaon na lang diha.

Kon ikaw mapul-an sa imong sud-an,
Uy, ang kahadlok pwede baya silian

Ania pa man sad ang hilaw nga paglaom
Ug isawsaw lang sa bahaw nga kalinaw

Ug kon ikaw mapaso, intawn
Ayaw kalimot og pag-ampo

1

Walay bituon.
Naalaan sa mga kwaknit
Nga mansanitas.

No stars.
The bats mistook them
For fruits.

2

Matintalon ang uwan.
Sa iyang pagbundak,
Midailos ang akong bukton
Sa imong hawak.

The rain's a tease.
As it pours,
My arm eases
Around your waist.

3

Kanang nakatagpilaw nga sikyu
Gabantay sa bangko sa iyang damgo.

That sleeping guard
Is securing the seat of his dreams.

4

ug kung nganong wa ko kaila nimo

luya ang iwag sa buwan,
pagaw ang singgit sa uwan.

and why i didn't recognize you

the moon's light was faint,
the rain's shout was hoarse.

5

mas banha nuon kung wala ka

ang way hugas nga mga plato sa kusina buot makig-istorya
ang way plansa nga mga bisti sa parador buot magpa-isplika

it's surprisingly noisier when you're not around

the unwashed dishes in the sink would like to have a serious talk
the unironed clothes in the closet are demanding explanations

*translated by Anthony Kintanar

***

Have no information for the exact cover of Nyor Butch Bandillo's book. But I could guess. ;-)

***

December 12? Nyaks, and it's annual fiesta in Guadalupe. The official Faigao gang reunion!

For Sale: Asus Netbook for 14K

-9-month old

-Windows XP

-with 60GB Hard disk

-with built-in camera

-with built-in memory card reader

-with built-in speaker and microphone

-with three USB ports

-WiFi ready

-battery can last for 4.5 hours

***

but here is the problem, the LCD is broken, it was hit by my phone. So technically, you will only pay for the LCD replacement and the service charge, which is around P13K.

overall, the netbook is still in a very good condition.

*** Kindly email @ jonabering@gmail.com or leave a message here.

Poetry: On Hearing Of A Death

On Hearing Of A Death
by Rainer Maria Rilke



We lack all knowledge of this parting. Death
does not deal with us. We have no reason
to show death admiration, love or hate;
his mask of feigned tragic lament gives us

a false impression. The world's stage is still
filled with roles which we play. While we worry
that our performances may not please,
death also performs, although to no applause.

But as you left us, there broke upon this stage
a glimpse of reality, shown through the slight
opening through which you disappeared: green,
evergreen, bathed in sunlight, actual woods.

We keep on playing, still anxious, our difficult roles
declaiming, accompanied by matching gestures
as required. But your presence so suddenly
removed from our midst and from our play, at times

overcomes us like a sense of that other
reality: yours, that we are so overwhelmed
and play our actual lives instead of the performance,
forgetting altogether the applause.

***
photo credits: mr-twingo

Tsinelas: Books as Christmas Gifts for Kids

Kampingganon Elementary School has 286 students, 10 classrooms and 11 teachers including the principal. This is also the site of Tsinelas Association's proposed reading center. You can help build the reading center in the small barangay of Kampingganon in Bantayan Island by donating children's books to Tsinelas. You can leave the books at Sun.Star Daily P. del Rosario Street, Cebu City (please label TSINELAS or Insoy Ninal) or contact 09228243800. If you're from Manila, please contact Yowee @ 0916-7970140. Thank you very much!

Delivery of books to Kampingganon Elementary School in Bantayan Island: Dec. 12, 2009. Drop off points for donations: Sun.Star, P Del Rosario (address package to Insoy Ni�al) and STC gates (address package to Annie Tenebro, Tsinelas board member), or reach us at 0922 8243800. Their Books also invites volunteers to do story telling for the kids. You might be interested. It's also Christmas there.

Balak: Sa Imong Pagbiya

Sa Imong Pagbiya
ni Jona Branzuela Bering


*draft



ayaw kalimti'g tan-aw
ang sulod sa imong payag

hinumdomi'ng kini ang nag-inusarang
saksi sa imong kaugalingon

dinhi

ang bungbong nanglili
sa love letter nga imong gisuwat

dinhi

ang katri nakadungog
sa imong gipangyawyaw
samtang gadamgo'g ugdo,
hamis, dughan, sampot

dinhi

ang sawg nga kawayan
nakakita sa tanan
nimong tinaguan:
bisag unsaon pa
nimog kipi,
way maka-ipsot sa
mata sa sawg.

dinhi

ang mga abog nahimong
bahin sa tanan
nimong butang

susama

ang imong kaugalingon
nahimong bahin sa imong payag.


maong unyag biya nimo
palihug
ayaw kalimtig sud-on ang
sulod sa imong payag.


Kay

Dinhi

Dinhi

nagpuyo
nahiluna

ang imong kaugalingon.

Poetry: What I Forgot to Mention

What I Forgot to Mention

By Lawrence Raab

Things fall apart.
First a chair, then a table. We can see
the roof needs replacing,
the garden's overgrown. How easy
to think only of obligation,
to talk for hours and say
nothing surprising. One afternoon
a neighbor's tree is struck by lightning.
It falls. And the maples shelter tiny insects
chewing on their tender, folded buds.
Then it's summer. All the convenient emblems
--flowers, seasons, rivers --
shrink a little in the heat, that cruel
weather I wasn't going to speak of.
But you, dear, what did you remember today?
Oh, the mind leaps backwards
and we shrug it off: just one flower,
nameless, bent toward water.
We were walking by and you picked it
out of sympathy. Or you let it stay.
Long ago the petals fell off.
Why think of it? That stain of purple,
so small it could mean anything.

Fed UP

So fed up with people. :-)

Balak: Ang Panyo ni Veronica

*draft

ni Jona Branzuela Bering


Ganahan unta ko mangutana
sa kahimtang sa imong panyo.
Nabantayan man gyod nako'ng
hanas ka sa pagpanarapo. Dali
kaayo ka madani sa mga lalaki'ng
nag-antos, unya dayon, hinay-
hinayon nimo'g trapo ang ilang
kasubo hangtod nga mawa na kini
sa hingpit ug motapot, mopilit
sa imong panyo. Ganahan unta
ko mangutana kay bisan ba,
Veronica, sa sige nimong limpyo
sa ilang mga kasakit, nakalimot
naka nga ang imo sad diay'ng
panyo angay ng labhan, limpyohan.

Poetry: Loose Rock

*draft


You are hard

to handle.

You wear

unpredictability

on your face.

Yes, you are not

anchored to the ground,

to anything. And another yes,

I do not,

cannot,

will not


trust

You.



Drifting is

your fate.

Ondoy: Drop-off Centers for Donations in Cebu

To those who wish to help the victims of typhoon Ondoy, here are your designated drop off centers in Cebu:

FORMO - BTC
BANILAD CHURCH OF CHRIST (bldg in front of Bright Academy near Sto. Nino Village), Mon-Fri 9am-5pm.
VUDU, Crossroads
TOYS @ WORK - BTC
CITIGYM
Y101 - Countrymall
SUNBURST FRIED CHICKEN-TABUNOK BRANCH - 10am to 9:30pm
AUNT GENIE's BREADHOUSE: 1279 Talamban, Cebu City (In front of the Talamban Sports Complex). call at 416-0495
BIZROUTE SOLUTIONS (Mon - Sat 11PM to 4PM) Unit 302 Keppel Bldg. Ayala. call at 416-0495
BIZROUTE SOLUTIONS Lahug Office
CUE CAFE Crossroads
OUTPOST and Jay Young - Nivel Hills Contact 09082368999 or 09322117111
VERY MARY shop - Myra's Pensionne, Escario St.
HOLIDAY GYM AND SPA
ABS-CBN CEBU
JULIES BAKESHOP

Tsinelas: Their Books 2

As part of the Press Freedom Celebration this month, our organization, Tsinelas, is holding a book sale. We call it Their Books. We collect books from writers, poets, editors and media practitioners, musicians, artists, art lovers and other prominent personalities in cebu and put them on sale. We did this last year, and it was very successful. We are doing it again. We will use the proceeds to spend for our beneficiaries' education.

Can you donate some of your old books to this event? Any kind of books from your personal collection will be great. I know it is difficult to part with our books, but it is worth the pain if we think of how far our generosity can go.

The book sale will be on Sept. 25, 26, and 27 at the Ayala Center Cebu.

We hope to hear from you.

Sincerely,

Lorenzo "Insoy" Ninal

Executive Director

Book of the Week: Umberto Eco's Foucault's Pendulum

I knew---but anyone could have sensed it in the magic of that serene breathing---that the period was governed by the square root of the length of the wire and by pi, that number which, however irrational to sublunar minds, through a higher rationality binds the circumference and diameter of all possible circles. The time it took the sphere to swing from end to end was determined by an arcane conspiracy between the most timeless of measures: the singularity of the point of suspension, the duality of the plane's dimensions, the triadic beginning of pi, the secret quadratic nature of the root, and the unnumbered perfection of the circle itself.

I::: A Morning with Eco's Foucault's Pendulum

Started my morning with a mug of coffee and a few of Eco's words.

Good morning everyone.

Conversation: of Nyor Tem and of Cindy

Cindy Velasquez: jo, gikan ko sa naga, gibisita nako si sir tem uban si dr. hope. ug akong gibalita nga nakadaog ka sa bisaya. pero masakiton na kaayo siya ron.
jonabranzuela: ha?
jonabranzuela: no?
jonabranzuela: di na siya tarong ka-istorya?
Cindy Velasquez: nihisgot gani to nga malimtanon na sya.
Cindy Velasquez: di na daw kaayo siya kaila sa mga tawo
Cindy Velasquez: ug naa siyay diabetes
jonabranzuela: pero pwede pa man kaha ka-istorya, cind?
Cindy Velasquez: maglisod gamay ug giubo. ug ang iyang tiil, di na kaayo siya ka tarong og tindog
jonabranzuela: didto ra mo sa iyang bay nagtabi?
Cindy Velasquez: pwede pa kaayo, apan morag gikapoy na tong iyang nawong. basta jo, lahi na gyod.
jonabranzuela: hay
jonabranzuela: old age
jonabranzuela: mobisita unya ko niya puhon
Cindy Velasquez: bisita ta gyod, nangita to nimo ug kang kevin.
Cindy Velasquez: sige, and please motivate him to continue writing
Cindy Velasquez: kay basta...
jonabranzuela: ning-undang na siyag suwat?
Cindy Velasquez: morag gikapoy to siya
Cindy Velasquez: dili nako ma-describe jo, apan mora gani siya naghuwat sa iyang sunod nga ataki. gusto niya magpa-espesyalista apan morag naay problema sa pamilya.
jonabranzuela: pero health-conscious man to si nyor tem,
jonabranzuela: mada ra to niya
jonabranzuela: pero grayrock raman kaha siya
jonabranzuela: bisag sa ila ka ate daphne siya nagpuyo ron
Cindy Velasquez: wala ko kaila jo, hopefully, makabisita ta og balik uban si kevin. kitang tulo ha...moadto gyod ko.
jonabranzuela: sige,
jonabranzuela: plano nako kuyog ang mga bag-ong tubo sa CNU
jonabranzuela: naay duha sa CNU ug si Genica sad
jonabranzuela: so mga 6 or 7 ta adto
Cindy Velasquez: sige, mas maayo
Cindy Velasquez: okay ra gyod nako jo.
jonabranzuela: mo-contact nya ko para sa atong mga sched
jonabranzuela: sige, cind
jonabranzuela: ayu-ayo diha
Cindy Velasquez: ikaw pod.

***


Kaya ra na nimo, Nyor, ikaw pa.

Conversation::: In a mad world, only the mad are sane

he: i'm gonna have my turn
she: ten years from now
she: ;-)
she: just wait
he: i might be dead by then. make it 7.
she: lol
she: i'll make it five
he: i'm still a moron by that time
she: we all are

Silly I::: Pan de Coco

Not a bread person, but I can tolerate two pan de coco.

It reminded me of Tuburan.

Book of the Week::: Atwood's Alias Grace

The taint of insanity is in the blood, and cannot be removed with a little soft soap and flannel.

Religious fanaticism I find to be fully as prolific an exiciting cause of insanity as intemperance---but I am inclined to believe that neither religion nor intemperance will induce insanity in a truly sound mind---I think there is always a predisposing cause which renders the individual liable to the malady, when exposed to any disturbing agency, whether mental or physical.

Tsinelas::: THEIR BOOKS 2

TSINELAS is now accepting book donations for the next THEIR BOOKS. THEIR BOOKS 2 will be held on the third week of September as part of the 2009 Press Freedom Week celebration. Unlike last year when most of the donors were personalities from the media, the art scene and friends of Tsinelas, THEIR BOOKS 2 will also include books donated by news sources, politicians and other prominent personalities in Cebu.

***

lifted from Insoy's account.

Books::: August's Reading List

1st Week: Toni Morrison's Paradise


2nd Week: Albert Camus's The Stranger



3rd Week: Margaret Atwood's Alias Grace



4th Week: Umberto Eco's Foucault's Pendulum

***
To justify any prejudices, I read female and male writers alternately.
But let me start August with a climb. Be back on Sunday evening.

Balak::: Suwat Alang Kang Berting

Jona Branzuela Bering

*draft

Ting,

Ayaw nalang ko paabota. Nasaag nako sa akong mga pangandoy, ug lisod na ang pagpangita sa dalan paingon kanimo. nahimo na kining libon, lasang. ang ilado kaayong dalan sa akong pagbati kaniadto, nahanaw na, natabunan sa mga nagpangamay nga paglaom nga makakitag, makahikap og snow. gikapoy nakog puyo sa gamay natong baryo, ting. Kapoy sigeg ugmag sa yuta nga di ato. Naay nagtudlo nako og chat diri sa 7. Naay koy nakit-ang Kano nga ganahan kaayo sa akong kutis nga morag kolor sa kugal nga sambag. Ingon siya, Ting, he like me. He want marry me. And he bring to America. Maong kon papilion ko sa libong dan ug sa hiway, sa hiway nalang ko, Ting. Naa pay purohan maka-SUB ko. By way, di na ka kinahanglang magtagu-tago padung sa balay nila ni Celia. Open it and show love to she. Kahibaw na sila Nanay ug Tatay sa akong desisyon. Ug lipay kaayo sila.

Ang imong ex-gf,

Sinds (Sinda)

Poetry::: The Other Tiger

The Other Tiger by Jorge Luis Borges

A tiger comes to mind. The twilight here
Exalts the vast and busy Library
And seems to set the bookshelves back in gloom;
Innocent, ruthless, bloodstained, sleek
It wanders through its forest and its day
Printing a track along the muddy banks
Of sluggish streams whose names it does not know
(In its world there are no names or past
Or time to come, only the vivid now)
And makes its way across wild distances
Sniffing the braided labyrinth of smells
And in the wind picking the smell of dawn
And tantalizing scent of grazing deer;
Among the bamboo's slanting stripes I glimpse
The tiger's stripes and sense the bony frame
Under the splendid, quivering cover of skin.
Curving oceans and the planet's wastes keep us
Apart in vain; from here in a house far off
In South America I dream of you,
Track you, O tiger of the Ganges' banks.

It strikes me now as evening fills my soul
That the tiger addressed in my poem
Is a shadowy beast, a tiger of symbols
And scraps picked up at random out of books,
A string of labored tropes that have no life,
And not the fated tiger, the deadly jewel
That under sun or stars or changing moon
Goes on in Bengal or Sumatra fulfilling
Its rounds of love and indolence and death.
To the tiger of symbols I hold opposed
The one that's real, the one whose blood runs hot
As it cuts down a herd of buffaloes,
And that today, this August third, nineteen
Fifty-nine, throws its shadow on the grass;
But by the act of giving it a name,
By trying to fix the limits of its world,
It becomes a fiction not a living beast,
Not a tiger out roaming the wilds of earth.

We'll hunt for a third tiger now, but like
The others this one too will be a form
Of what I dream, a structure of words, and not
The flesh and one tiger that beyond all myths
Paces the earth. I know these things quite well,
Yet nonetheless some force keeps driving me
In this vague, unreasonable, and ancient quest,
And I go on pursuing through the hours
Another tiger, the beast not found in verse.

I::: Commemorating my Independence

Pro:

Freedom is nothing but a chance to be better.
—Albert Camus

***

Pros and Cons (m-w.com):

Main Entry:

com·mem·o·rate

Pronunciation:

\kə-ˈme-mə-ˌrāt\

Function:

transitive verb

Inflected Form(s):

com·mem·o·rat·ed; com·mem·o·rat·ing

Etymology:

Latin commemoratus, past participle of commemorare, from com- + memorare to remind of, from memor mindful — more at memory

Date:

1599

1 : to call to remembrance 2 : to mark by some ceremony or observation : observe <commemorate an anniversary> 3 : to serve as a memorial of commemorates the battle>

***

At Half Past Three, a Single Bird
by Emily Dickinson

At Half past Three, a single Bird
Unto a silent Sky
Propounded but a single term
Of cautious melody.

At Half past Four, Experiment
Had subjugated test
And lo, Her silver Principle
Supplanted all the rest.

At Half past Seven, Element
Nor Implement, be seen --
And Place was where the Presence was
Circumference between.

***

Cons:

Doubting.

Still doubting.

Panawagan: Sa Batch 2009

Dali, dayon mu sa kalasangan
sa pagpanimpad. Pero pasidan-an
tamo daan, dili sayon ang dan.
Kon makasugat mug nagbansiwag
nga kahoy sa taliwala sa inyong agi-anan,
naa ra na ninyo kon inyong talikdan,
o inyong lakangan. Kon mapadol mu
sa bagon, naa ra sad na ninyo
kon inyong putlon o pasakdan.
***

Basta, mga ga, sa akong mga manghod sa Normal, congrats, nakalusot namo sa traffic kaayong highway. Naabot na ang panahon para sa tinuod nga biyahe. :)

Quoting: Two Js and One Unknown

Laugh. Laugh out loud. And laugh often. And when circumstances call for silence, turn your laugh into a smile.
—Anonymous

Sentimentality, the ostentatious parading of excessive and spurious emotion, is the mark of dishonesty, the inability to feel; the wet eyes of the sentimentalist betray his aversion to experience, his fear of life, his arid heart; and it is always, therefore, the signal of secret and violent inhumanity, the mask of cruelty
—James Baldwin, "Everybody's Protest Novel"



for the one
who
standing in the sun
does not cast a shadow
—June Jordan, I Was Looking at the Ceiling and then I Saw the Sky

Laugh, Jona::: Book Sale at Booksale and Natio

At Booksale: Truthful enough, I did not know him, but Sir Radel Paredes, whom I accidentally met at SM Booksale together with his wife, bragged his copy for P20 only. A week after, I found another copy for P15 only! I want to thank Sir Radel for accidentally introducing a pioneering force in American literature. Mine is five peso lesser.

At Booksale: For P75 only. And this is the latest publication! I am always her fan.

At Natio: A year after getting a flat 3 both in my Ethics and Philosophy of Man subjects, I finally realized the importance of philosophy. Is it too late already? From around P400 to P100. Complete with cover!
At Natio: From around P600 to P50. No plastic cover, of course, and there is a slight damage in the cover. But see the difference of the price.

P.S.
I'm gloating my own silliness. Indulge me.

Balak::: Tulo Ka Imahe sa Samin

I did describe the mirror briefly . . . It was . . . A full and empty thing, dense with images in one place, vacant in another.
---Siri Hustvedt, The Blindfold


Unang imahe:

Nag-atubang sa display
Window sa usa ka appliance
Center. Sa likod sa bildo, nanghupaw
Ang bag-ong TV unit sa Sony, gilaay
Sa iyang dagway’ng gibalik-balika’g
Dagan sa mga anino ibabaw
sa tubig---usa ka mammoth, gisundan
Sa usa ka tigre, ug laing usa ka
Mammoth nga naghuna-hunang usa
Siya ka possum. Sa bildo maaninag
Ang mga inamang katawa sa ubang
mga tawo. Nanglapos ang kaputi,
Kayellow sa ilang mga agik-ik pagkakita
sa mammoth nga nagbitay
Sa sanga sa kahoy. Samtang ang uban
Nang-ismid kay ang mammoth, labaw
Na ang possum wa natawo

sa ilang kalibutan.

Ikaduhang imahe:

Ang samin sa Tubod, nakatag-iyag
Usa ka pamilyahang hulagway: amahang
Nagpomada kay naay tari sa lungsod,
Inahang nanudlay una modalikyat
Sa silingan ug manung’g tabi, nangawat
si undo sa pomada sa iyang amahan
kay unya naay bayle sa pikas
baryo, yamat na lang, makakaplag
ug dalaga, si inday namulbos
una ninggikan padung sa sapa
ug naglaba samtang ningpahiyom
Pag-agi ni Kulas nga nagpatuna
Sa kabaw. Ug ang duha ka batang
Gagmayng nahabilin sa panimalay
Nagduwa, ang ginamanghurang
Nagpangidad ug duha ka tuig, natingala
Sa ninglihok nga repleksyon nga naa
sa kuwadrong gikuha sa iyang igsuon
Gika sa altar. Ningpunit
ug bato. Gipukpok.

Maayo niining pagkakagay.


Ikatulong imahe:

Nasaulo nimo ang tanang
Suok sa inyong panimalay
Sama sa pagsaulo sa usa
Ka linya sa paboritong nobela---
“Wondered which had changed
the most, place or self?” Apan
Sama pagsaulo, di ka sigurado
Kon sakto ang mga pulong
Gigamit, bisan sa gamayng
Kinabuhi sa usa ka comma.
Maong sa pag-uli nimo
Sa inyo, nakamatikod
Kang naay kuwang, o naay
Nakuha, sa inyong panimalay
Apan wa nimo nahikaplagan
Ang saktong pulong para niini.
Diha naka nakasakop niining pulonga
Paglipot nimo sa likod sa inyong
Balay ug nakit-an nimo ang imong
Nagpikas-pikas nga dagway

Sa nabuak nga samin.

Ego tripping::: A Year After

MOLAKAW NA GYUD DIAY KA?
By gmp (Alang kang Jona B. Bering)



Unsa to?
Molakaw na ka?
Sama ning pa’d sa kabuntagon nga daklit
Mutapion
Sa akong aping
Ug dayon mugikan kay ngitngit na sad?
O kaha ingun ba sa tambutso
Nga way kaikog muluwa
Sa iyang mga hang-ups
Ning gi-jobosan kong mga aping
Ug unya musutoy lang dayon palayo?
O gani ikaw ba kadtong
Akong tisoy nga uyab kaniadto
Nga dihang nahurot
Ang siopao sa among sarisari store
Nalibat
Nahanaw
Kay kunu wa na katultol
Asa ang amoa?

Nya, unsa man?
Mulakaw na gyud ka?
Wa pa gani ko
Mahuman ug ihap
Kung pila sa mga linya
sa imong mga balak
Ang mitadlas
Sa nataran ning
Cebu Normal University.
Magpaanod pa gani ko
Sa modernong hagtik
Sa imong mga tinagik.
Buot ko pa ganing
Masinati pag-usab
Ang maghubog-hubog
Sa bino sa panulat ug arte.
Pinaagi sa tabas
Sa imong mga linya
O kaha sa dahunog
Sa imong mga pulso.

Ayaw sa uy
Puyu sa.
Pasigaa pa ang suga.


Pero kung mulakaw na gyud ka
Sige
Kay naa o,
Nagpangamay na
Ang imong damgo
Nuntan ko lang
Ang imong tingog
Basin pa diay
Matawo ko pag-usab
Ug mubalik didto
Diin hangol pa ko
Sa bunal ug liti
Sa mga linya ug garay

Ubanan ko na lang kaha
Ning Cebu Normal University
dinhi sa suok
Sa Jones Avenue
Maghinuktok, magmukmok
Maghulat kanus-a mahubog
Ikaw bay makasaksi
Sa unang uha sa bag-ong nahimugso
Nga balak
Dinhi sa alimuot ug abogon
Apan nadan-agan nga ang suga.
Lalim ba!

Desktop::: Pote Look-alike

Balak::: Sa Itlog sa Uk-ok sa Ibabaw sa The Old Man and the Sea

*draft*

Sa Itlog sa Uk-ok Ibabaw sa The Old Man and the Sea.

Jona Branzuela Bering

Gihabulan ka sa kahilom,
maong wa ko kabantay
nimo nga hastang pagkahinanok
sa ibabaw sa libro. Ingon tong akong
apuhan ang batang mag-unlag
libro, brayt kuno unyag kadako.
Unya bahin man kuno na
sa dagat kanang libroha, mahimo
diay ka ining henyo sa dagat. Ayaw
kog hikalimti ha. Wap-a baya ko
kabasa anang libroha. Busa unyag
duyan-duyan nimo sa dagat
sa mga pulong ihunghong kanako
ang tanan. I-ambit kun unsaon
pagmapasol, pagpamukot ug lab-as
nga mga pulong. Kay sa tinud-anay,
uk-ok, hapit nako i-unlod ning
akong barato nga naglisod ug labang

sa usa ka pulong.

***

Naa koy gikabuangan.

New Crush::: Hugh Jackman

Mabuang ko sa iyang performance sa Academy. 

Details of his kabuang.

Poetry::: The Witch in Fairy Tales

The Witch in Fairy Tales

Jona Branzuela Bering





























My eyes, you said, two-lipped scissors almost
Kissing each other. With a nose, a hawk’s beaks.
A chin, a blind curve. My mouth spit thorns, vines,
And not rose petals and melodies.

Your prince dashed with his sword, or words,
Partly, an Andersen’s prince. Exactly the one
You expected to rescue you from my dirty fingers,
Full of stains from everyday works—making potions,

Spells not just for you but for myself too. To make me
Live up with my character. For your story to continue.
For you to be rescued. For you to have a happily-
ever-after. For you to be loved by everybody.

Since without me, you’ll not be Snow White, or Sleeping Beauty.
You’ll be just another ordinary girl, a secondary character
In a story book, gathering dust in a remote corner
of a bookstore, silent, and then, bargained, and yet in the end,

unsold.

Balak::: Ang Balay sa Mangkukulit

Giputos sa iyang panan-aw
ang babayeng gahipos
sa iyang buhok gamit
ang plastik sa ice water.
Iyang gitiltil ang nagbansiwag
nga kapungot sa babayeng
kalkag og buhok
ug hibos nga kaugalingon.
Gilimpyohan sa tigib
ang kadakurbada sa imahe
gikan sa ilong padung
sa may aping, sa nipis
nga ngabil nga nagtago
og daghang sugilanon.
Gikuot sa kutsilyong talinis
ang ningsiwil sa ilawom
sa dunggan hangtod
madungog ang kahiubos
sa iyang mga mata.
Sa gamayng batang giporma
iyang gilingi ang babayeng
naglingkod morag estatuwa
kuyog ni Sto. Niño ug Buddha.

Balak::: Pangutana sa Anay

kutkuton nako ang tanan
ari ko magsugod sa gabok
nga kagahapon
nga gitugyan sa tag-iya
sa kalimot

dunot
humok
lami

bisan naanad nako
ani di gihapon ko
kapugong

og pangutana

kon lami man ang kagahapon
nganong gipasagdang madunot

***
Bag-ong Tubag

A text from Gen

isa pang bagong sagot sa tanong
na:


"musta lovelife?"



"postponed until further notice."

Pakpak mga way uyab.

***

Who is planning to pick Ondaatje's The English Patient? I found a spare copy (in a very good condition) at Metro Colon for ninety pesos only. It is located in the second shelf, on its right side. It's Valentines, time to share.

***
Oops, nakalimtan. Pakpak, Jona!

Daghang Nahitabo::: Karong Adlawa

Hate nako ang tiktak sa alarm clock nga duha nakasemana nga wa nakaset sa alas syite. So technically, nasuspend ang iyang pagka-alarm clock. Maglagot gyod sa kadasegundong tiktak. Panuway kaayo. Saba. Di man ta ni in-ani sa una. Sige man ug kahog---mataymingan sa akong lawas nga di pa ganahan mobangon, nya masaag sa pagpangita sa off switch, dritsog dakdak. Da, pawng lagi. Sa una, naa siya study table nakalingkod, niya madungog man gihapon ang tiktak sa akong higdaanan, maong nabalhin sa connecting shelf. Arang-arang kay di na madungog ang iyang tiktak. 

Alas dyes nako nakamata. Milagro si Mitch, among iring nga di iring ug batasan, tua nagbay-ad sa sofa, wa naghari-hari sa akong kwarto. Nakig-eye to eye ni Bruce, among iro. With matching twinkle, twinkle little eyes.

Magtruce tingali ang duha kay Valentines.

***

Ning-adto ko sa CNU pagkahapon. Naay gihatod ug naa say gikuha. Nagkita mi ni Tez, ang babayeng bigatla. Basta kining bayhana akong kakuyog, ang tinggil ni Jona abot sa Abellana. 

Mamatay kog katawa sa iyang pagkabigaon: nagbiga sa kang *toot* og ni *toot* Ang iyang choices of words, I love the most. Censored man, di nalang i-enumerate dinhi. Naa pa gyod koy pair of turtles. Tuo pa gyod  

Sugilanon sa Usa ka Jona::: Kaahak sa Sambag

Ningpauli ko sa amoa sa niaging semana. Nangatkat mi ni Mama sa Tubod, ang balay sa akong pagkabata. Ug didto, nangawat mi sa utanon ni Vencio, akong papa. Hilason ang garden ni Vencio: kaokrahan ni Vencio, kaagbatihan ni Vencio, tulo ka kalbasaan ni Vencio, kabatungan ni Vencio, kasikwahan ni Vencio. Puro nalang Vencio. Ang lahi ra kay kamunggayan sa tanan. ang nakaparat sa mga silingan didto, bisag naa sa bukid, pulpol mananom. Magsalig kang Vencio. 

Giingnan ko sa akong manghod nga ang sambag dapit sa payag kay namunga na, niya nindot nga kalidad, talagsaon, kay tam-is. Sa Tubod, naay duha kaklase sa sambag: ang linginon ug laparon nga bunga. Ang linginon maoy tam-is nga sulagma ra kaayo. Naa ray duha ka punuon niini samtang ang laparon di maihap. Ang pinakabatang punuon nga tam-is ang nahiluna kilid sa payag. Hitik sa mga bunga. Tiguwang pa man ko aning sambaga. Kaagbatihan man ning dapita ang iyang gitingdugan sa una, niya wa patoy payag. Ninghangad ko sa sambag. Nakahuna-huna ko, pila na kaha tuig ang last nga nikatkat kog kahoy. Murag second year high school man tingali, sa mangga ni nanay, didto sa pinakatumoy nga parte kon diin mura nakog hangin, nag-utaw-utaw sa wanang. Niya, hapit ko nahulog ato kay gisyagitan ko ni Vencio. Feel man nako ato akoy tag-iya sa mangga; kuha lang kay kuha.

Ang sambag wa ka one-fourth sa lawas ug taas sa mangga. Pero mura namag habog kaayo sa panan-aw nako. Giingnan nako si Mama nga ituboy ko aron makasaka ko. Bug-at naman kaayo kog lawas, murag baboy o murag butiti. Kaluoy sa tambok, nakakatkat intawn ko. 

Naay paagi aron mailhan kong hinog na ang sambag. Garasan nimo ang lawas niini. Kong mura nagbrown na, nagpasabot nga hinog na, pero kung green pa gani, hilaw pa. Nakalimot pa gyod ko kon unsay tawag sa hinog nga sambag, magdepende mana sa stage sa ilang kahinog. Akong gipangutana si Mama nga naglingkod sa payag. Ang maguwang ug gamay sa guwang nga sambag, pakpakon ang tawag. Ug katong hinog na gyod, kugal ang tawag. Wa ko kahibaw asa ni naggikan nga mga pulong. Pakpakon tingali kay mapakpak man ang panit sa sambag. Kugal kay silingan raman sa kugan.  

Mura kog unggoy nga nag-ambak-ambak sa sanga, nanghinaot nga di mapaksit kay mao kahay pagkabutaltal nako sa ubos. Kataw-an kog samot sa inahak nga sambag. Kay lagmit ang gihuna-huna ani kay "maguwang pa man ka nako, pero unsa may imong naabot. Wa man tawn ka namunga." Putlon hinuon nako siya, maoy iya.   Tagud-tagod hinuon nako siya, niya himuong uling, maoy iya. "Halos, di man gani kakatkat, tagud-tagoron na ba kaha." Grrr. Maypa, monaog nalang ko kay nakakuha naman sag kog sampag. Pikat nimo, sambaga ka. Ang problema di nako kahibaw monaog. Gitawag nako si Mama. Ninglakaw ang akong maayong inahan. Nagtaha-taha ko sa pag-ambak. Mga kapin duha kametros ang katas-on. Bahala na, amaw man ning sambaga. Salig lang tam-is. Pikat nimo. Pag-ambak nako.

Ahak, hapit ko naumod sa tae sa baka. 

Silly::: It Was Strangely Familiar

When somebody ym-ed "how are you?."

And you'd realized  the year had folded without a word from him,  

And just by nonchalant "how are you?"

everything came rushing, a fool's, not foolish, memories.

Balak::: Ang Pagpauli

Ang Pagpauli

ni Jona Branzuela bering

nahi

ma

mat 

                 na

  sad

na

ko

  ang 

kada

kur

             bada

sa

          da

    lan

 

sa 

         akong

mga

   

 p

a

       n

g

              a

    n

                 d

      o 

y.

Ukay-ukay::: Of Pablo, of Nicola, of Lia, of Bathalad, and of Tuburan

[Where? Right here. I am. Right here.]

I like for you to be still
It is as though you are absent
And you hear me from far away
And my voice does not touch you
It seems as though your eyes had flown away
And it seems that a kiss had sealed your mouth
As all things are filled with my soul
You emerge from the things
Filled with my soul
You are like my soul
A butterfly of dream
And you are like the word: Melancholy

I like for you to be still
And you seem far away
It sounds as though you are lamenting
A butterfly cooing like a dove
And you hear me from far away
And my voice does not reach you
Let me come to be still in your silence
And let me talk to you with your silence
That is bright as a lamp
Simple, as a ring
You are like the night
With its stillness and constellations
Your silence is that of a star
As remote and candid

I like for you to be still
It is as though you are absent
Distant and full of sorrow
So you would've died
One word then, One smile is enough
And I'm happy;
Happy that it's not true
—"I Like For You To Be Still," Pablo Neruda

[Awhile ago, I had read this at National Bookstore with a wry smile.]

***

Their anger aged
hardening into a creed
having turned away their faces
they took with them our own
—"The Judgment," Lia Lopez-Chua


All my life I have looked
at so many things
have seen so many changes
and have looked for the one thing hidden
but something there is the eye
always misses
and even as I look at you now
a wind have taken something with it
and what is left
is always what is here
always of a sudden

—"Poem for a Child about to Grow"

[She is not a fan of punctuations, and I have, preferably, a different title for the second poem to suit myself. Right now.]

***

What kind of girl, after all, takes any trip on her own? A bold girl? A silly girl? Oh, she wanted to be both, for once.

"The Piazza Barberini," Nicola Barker

[I want to be both, more than once.]

***

What I did in Bathalad Convention: learned, laughed, laughed, laughed, and laughed. With old Bathalads.

***

Pauli ko sa amoa.

Balak::: Didto sa Bukid

Sa ilawom sa mangga
nagkukakubildo kining duha--

Si Ka Subo naglingu-lingo,
naglantaw sa nakalaberang
kamunggayan.

Si Ka Lipay nagngisi

kay sa iyang bana-bana,

pila na lang ka pakli sa adlaw,

ang kamunggayan

mosalingsing, manglunhaw.

Balak::: Dili Ka Kaingon

ni Jona Branzuela Bering

nagkumpayot

ang usa ka lusok

nga uwan sa alambre
sa kuryente

nakahibawo ka

nga naa

nagkumbitay apan
sayod ba kaha ka
kon kanus-a kini
matagak

usa ka tuldok
madugmok
taliwala sa naghilak
nga kalsada


bisitaha ang balaybalakasoy.blogspot.com

Ranting::: The Night Was Round Then

this word, it haunts me

while the balili grass sleeps

for the night, resting

its head in the gravestone's foot.

Their closeness, their whispers,

their sighs make this word swells

—swells with metaphors—the roundness,

not of the moon, but of the night.

Quoting::: Annie Proulx

"In a knot of eight crossings, which is about the average-size knot, there are 256 different 'over-and-under' arrangements possible... Make only one change in this 'over and under' sequence and either an entirely different knot is made or no knot at all may result."

The Shipping News, Annie Proulx

Poetry::: When Is a Poem Already a Poem

When Is a Poem Already a Poem
Simeon Dumdum Jr.

I wasn’t listening when you asked that question
I was looking out the window, at the boat
That was just then leaving the port of Dumaguete.
One more day and already I imagined
Myself on that boat, slumped in a chair,
Holding a book like a cup of coffee,
Hoping that during the passage across
The strait I could read without spilling
A word. But then I remembered I still
Had to send someone to buy me a ticket,
And there was your question, and how for the boat
And gone out in the poem of the sea, now
That I wished someone could see the mountains, but not us
Already we had become the Cuernos de Negros

Poetry::: When Is a Poem Already a Poem

When Is a Poem Already a Poem

Simeon Dumdum Jr.

I wasn’t listening when you asked that question

I was looking out the window, at the boat

That was just then leaving the port of Dumaguete.

One more day and already I imagined

Myself on that boat, slumped in a chair,

Holding a book like a cup of coffee,

Hoping that during the passage across

The strait I could read without spilling

A word. But then I remembered I still

Had to send someone to buy me a ticket,

And there was your question, and how for the boat

And gone out in the poem of the sea, now

That I wished someone could see the mountains, but not us

Already we had become the Cuernos de Negros

Poetry::: When Is a Poem Already a Poem

When Is a Poem Already a Poem

Simeon Dumdum Jr.

I wasn’t listening when you asked that question

I was looking out the window, at the boat

That was just then leaving the port of Dumaguete.

One more day and already I imagined

Myself on that boat, slumped in a chair,

Holding a book like a cup of coffee,

Hoping that during the passage across

The strait I could read without spilling

A word. But then I remembered I still

Had to send someone to buy me a ticket,

And there was your question, and how for the boat

And gone out in the poem of the sea, now

That I wished someone could see the mountains, but not us

Already we had become the Cuernos de Negros

Quoting:::James Baldwin

I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain.
—James Baldwin, Notes of a Native Son

Film:::The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Benjamin Button: It's a funny thing about comin' home. Looks the same, smells the same, feels the same. You'll realize what's changed is you.

Benjamin Button: Some nights, I'd have to sleep alone. I didn't mind, I would listen to the house breathin'. All those people sleepin'. I felt... safe.

Daisy: And in the spring, 2003, he looked at me. And I knew, that he knew, who I was. And then he closed his eyes, as if to go to sleep.

Mrs. Maple: Benjamin, we're meant to lose the people we love. How else would we know how important they are to us?

Benjamin Button: Along the way you bump into people who make a dent on your life. Some people get struck by lightning. Some are born to sit by a river. Some have an ear for music. Some are artists. Some swim the English Channel. Some know buttons. Some know Shakespeare. Some are mothers. And some people can dance

Benjamin Button: I was thinking how nothing lasts, and what a shame that is.
Daisy: Some things last.