POETRY CLINIC BY LIRA

LIRA is now accepting sign-ups for its next poetry clinic. All those who are interested must submit five (5) poems in Filipino along with a short bio-data and one 1×1 ID picture, sent to liraworkshop@gmail.com or dropped off c/o Prof. Vim Nadera at the UP Institute of Creative Writing, 2/F Faculty Center, UP Diliman, 1101 Quezon City.

All submissions should be in on or before April 30, 2008.

The regular clinic period is from June to August and will be held every Saturday and Sunday from 9: 00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m.

STANZAS OF STILLNESS

NALALABING HIBLA

Ni Rey Tamayo, Jr.

Minsan ako’y kumubli sa tabing ng ilusyon,
Upang takasan ang nahirating kabiguan.

At ang nagpupumiglas
na luha sa mga talukap ng mata,
ay ‘di ko magawang pigilan sa pagdaloy.

Tanging kong karamay sa aking hirap
Na waring hindi naglilikat, ay ang umid kong tinig
Na humihibik sa pagtangis.

Anupa’t niyayamot ako ng dalamhati,
Nilansag ang buo pulutong ng aking ligaya.

Ang aking mukha ay namamaga sa pagtangis,
at nasa aking mga pilik-mata
ang anino at silo ng kamatayan;

Pilit kong nililimot sa aking isipan,
Ang humuhulagpos na pag-asa
Nang iwan ako ng nalalabing hibla ng buhay.

STANZAS OF STILLNESS: VANESSA ALPECHE IN FOCUS

Teardrop

I think perhaps I was a teardrop
in some other life;
crystal, fluid, with a rainbow
in each tangential point.

For one second I existed,
heaved one giant breath,
then spilled upon the bowels,
of the brown arid earth.

Through me a splinter of pain
was released into the world;
like light, after the darkness,
dazzling, blinding, then dead.

If you'll ask what I had accomplished
as a tear,
I, ever so humbly,
would only say:

"I once fed the rain."

_________

Vanessa Alpeche is from Publishing, Journals. Teardrop is one of three poetry pieces she submitted for the TULARAWAN exhibit.

CALL FOR ENTRIES: MANINGNING MICLAT POETRY AWARDS

THE Maningning Miclat Art Foundation Inc. (MMAFI) is calling on young poets writing in Filipino, English and Chinese to participate in the 2007 Maningning Poetry Competition.

The poetry contest consists of three divisions—Filipino, English and Chinese—is open to all poets, age 28 and below. An entry must consist of at least 8 but not more than 15 poems. Authors may join all the divisions but can submit only 1 entry in every division. All entries should be original in every language and not a translation of another entry.

All entries should be submitted in 4 copies, double-spaced on 8-1/2 by 11 inches bond paper with one-inch margin on all sides and with Arial or Times New Roman size 12 font. Entry should be submitted using pen name only. Real name and pen name should be submitted in a separate sealed envelop together with a bio data, copy of birth certificate and a notarized declaration of originality and authenticity of authorship of the entry.

Entries must be addressed to the Maningning Miclat Art Foundation Inc. (MMAFI), 2nd Floor Mile Long Building, Amorsolo Street, Legaspi Village, Makati City, (tel. no. 816-7490 to 91) not later than 5 p.m. of April 17, 2007. Entries sent by mail should be postmarked/invoiced not later than April 3, 2007.

The Maningning Miclat Awards was launched to honor her short but meaningful life and to encourage, recognize and nurture young talents like her. This year's grand winners will receive a P28,000 cash award for each of the three categories, copies of collector's edition of "Voice from the Underworld" and "Beauty for Ashes: Remembering Maningning" as well as the Miclat family journal, Beyond the Great Wall and trophies by the eminent sculptor, Julie Lluch.

Log on to www.maningning.com and email maningningfoundation@gmail.com for more information.

CALL FOR ENTRIES: LINANGAN SA IMAHEN, RETORIKA, AT ANYO (LIRA) NATIONAL POETRY WORKSHOP

Applicants are invited to participate in the upcoming LIRA Poetry Workshop. The Linangan sa Imahen, Retorika, at Anyo (LIRA) is now accepting entries for its annual poetry workshop. The worshop will be held during the weekends (Saturdays and Sundays) of June and July 2007 at the College of Arts and Letters, UP Diliman, Quezon City.

National Artist for Literature, Virgilio S. Almario, is the workshop facilitator.

If you are interested, please submit five poems in Filipino together with a short bio-data and a 1x1 picture to:

LIRA Workshop
c/o Dir. Vim Nadera
UP Institute of Creative Writing
2/F Bulwagang Rizal
UP Diliman, 1101 Q.C.

You may also email to liraworkshop@gmail.com before April 30, 2007.


About LIRA

LIRA is an organization of poets writing in Filipino. It conducts annual poetry writing workshops, covering topics from traditional Filipino poetry to post-modernism. From these poetry workshops sprung respected and award-winning poets like Vim Nadera, Romulo Baquiran, Michael Coroza and siblings, Rebecca and Roberto Anonuevo.

LIRA celebrated its 21st anniversary last December 2006. Beverly Siy is its current president. If you're trying to improve your poetry writing, check out the LIRA Poetry Workshop this year!

Note from the Writers Guild: If you need help, please do not hesitate to let us know. Our Poetry Editor Dai Miranda or Workshop Manager JP Canivel would be more than willing to assist you.

POETRY CRITIQUE: REVOLT FROM HYMEN

HYMEN: Art by Georgia O'keefe

REVOLT FROM HYMEN

O to be free at last, to sleep at last
As infants sleep within the womb of rest!

To stir and stirring find no blackness vast
With passion weighted down upon the breast,

To turn the face this way and that and feel
No kisses festering on it like sores,

To be alone at last, broken the seal
That marks the flesh no better than a whore's!



HYMEN: Mixed media installation by Jehanne-Marie Gavarini


"Revolt from Hymen" and the Feminist Thought

by Jacquiline Dy

The hymen is a fold of mucous membrane the wholeness of which differentiates someone who is a virgin from someone who is not. In Angela Manalang-Gloria's poem, the hymen becomes a symbol for the society's concept of femininity. The persona in the "Revolt from Hymen" can be compared to a woman writer who aims to free herself from the constricting boundaries of the feminine position. The lines "O to be free at last… / To be alone at last" echoes women's pleas for independence from the society's controlling grip and its social constructs. The persona wants to be a woman who is free to write without experiencing the "anxiety of authorship," the "blackness vast / With passion weighted down upon the breast"; a woman who can attempt the pen without worrying whether she has the right to do so; a woman who can express herself, her desires and her story without being ashamed of it.

The kisses on the third stanza are a symbol of patriarchal society's high regard for women who conform to the stereotypical female attributes of purity and passivity. These kisses then turn into sores whenever women, in exchange for social acceptance, confine themselves just to what society constructs them to be. The persona believes that these kisses, just like festering sores, are things that women should not want for themselves. A woman should learn how to "turn [her] face this way and that," to assert herself within the Order and to do her own thing in spite of the condemnation she would probably receive as its result.

The last two lines of the poem lead to the virgin/whore dichotomy. The virgin, whose hymen is still intact, is a symbol for all the women who chose to submit to the standards connected with femininity. The whore, and her broken hymen, meanwhile, comes to stand for everything that the virgin is not—active, aggressive and subversive. Women writers are like whores because both of them transgress the society's concept of femininity. A woman writer ceases to become passive at the moment she is able to create a story of her own. Her writing is a practice that gives her power and yet transmogrifies her. Both of them—the whore and the woman writer—are subversive because they chose to rebel against these stereotypical roles.

The persona in the poem chose to write and free herself despite being labeled a whore than to be a virgin and remain forever muted. The lines "[breaking] the seal / That marks the flesh no better than a whore's" pertains to the process of severing the chains that bind the feminine role to the female body, as well as the deconstruction of the virgin/whore, angel/monster dichotomies to which women are circumscribed, things that the poem "Revolt from Hymen" sought to address.

_________________
Jacquiline Dy is from Journals.

STANZAS OF STILLNESS

Ilang Tanong Ni Schiavo*

Tuldok ka bang lilinyang
tuwid sa kahong likha
ng iyong pamamatyag?

Tugtog ka bang sasaliw
sa hirap at lungkot
ng aking paglalayag?

Kung bulaklak mang lanta
ang sa katauhan ko
ay maipapanata
at kung ang bukod-tanging
kuyom na tanikala
sa labi kong pag-asa’y
kapangyarihang pinagkait,
matutuwa ba ako
na tumakas sa dagsin
ng iyong kalupitan?

Iharap mo ang iyong
mukha’t magpakilala -
ang bawat salita mo
ay kutsilyong matalas
na siyang tumatastas
sa sinulid ng aking
pinipita na buhay;
di ko mapagtanto sa
kawalan mo ng pusong
hihingian ng awa.

Manlilikha ka ba na
na siyang makahahatol
sa dulo at hangganan
ng aking abang buhay?

*Teri Schiavo

- Jose Perseus Canivel, SPi Content



Paalam

bawat pindot ng aking mga daliri..
bawat tulo ng luha mula sa aking mata..
bawat hikbi namumutawi sa aking bibig..

Nais ko man ipagpatuloy..
Nais ko man gawin lagi..
Nais ko man ipabasa sa lahat..

May mga bagay na ngtatapos..
May mga pgkakataon nglalaho..
May mga pinto sumasara..

Dalangin kun sino man papalit..
Dalangin nawa'y ang mga salita'y ngmula sa puso..
Dalangin na sana sa pg mulat ng bago sinag ng araw..

ako'y makabalik muli..

- WIZE, SPi-CAiS



GRUDGE OF HEART

Walking down the street
Bearing a broken heart
The color of the twilight
Covers my microscopic delight, but...

As I gazed in the East
There is a creation
Smiling for me
Caring for me.

The moon! Exhorting my soul
To hold the greatest hope.
The stars that totally vanished
Rekindled their lights and shining on me.

The cool drizzle
Falling down my skin,
Straining my blood
That keeps blazing.

Audible sweet music
Shamelessly echoing around my ears
Meaningful message that I grasp
Let my tears fall down the grass.

How do I bear my heart that cracked?
How do I live without your heart?

- Emil Bombita, Legal

STANZAS OF STILLNESS

Alaala mo MARL, #1

Sa mga nagkalat
na batong bituin
ay natisod na naman
ang aking pag-iisip
at sa pagkakadapa
sa alaala mo’y
nakalublob at
ayaw na waring tumayo!


Alaala mo MARL, #2

Sa paggapang
ng tulirong mag-iisa
hindi makakita
sa pag-asang madilim,
kaya’t pilit kong kinakapa
ang bawat kataga
ng tinapon mong
dagling paalam.


Alaala mo MARL, #5

Sa hinabing
panahon ng limot
itinago ko
ang mga larawan
at pangako mo
datapuwat di-maiwan
itong sisidlang sunong
lagi ng puso’t isip.

__________________________

Jose Perseus Canivel is the Writers Guild's Workshop Manager and Corporate Initiatives Coordinator of CIS.




G.Y.

No laughing on company hours. Looks like you just bought yourself a shift scrubbing the latrines. – Graveyard Shift (1990), Stephen King

What better way to spend an evening
than by keeping awake
when everyone else is on their way to Neverland

Here is a shrouded consciousness unaffected
by vintage videos of Warwick and the Beatles on Youtube

Drowning in reports of suicidal ideation and STDs
by faceless people from across the sea
whose lives make for interesting reading
between sips of stale coffee and biscuits.

Is it about enjoying the solitude unquestioningly
or is this simply to avoid the judgment of people
whom you might end up working with during the day?

July 5, 2006
Manila
Sarimanok Dreams

________________________
Vingel Yago is the nom de plume of an English Editor in HDI.

[ Back to Cover Page ]

POETRY OF, BY, AND FOR THE PEOPLE

Pobreng Kidney

Isang sakong bigas, isang bayong na asin,
isang kartong Lucky Me, at isang sakong daing—
pasalubong ni Daddy matapos ipagbili
sa presyong singkwenta mil ang kanyang isang kidney.

Yeheey! O Lord! Sa wakas!
Kakain na rin kami!

Kaya’t
dinamihan ko ang kain
ng natural naming pagkain—
kanin at asin.
At mamayang hapunan
ay dadamihan ko rin ang kain
ng epesyal naming pagkain—
kanin at daing.
At bukas sa almusal-pananghalian
ay dadamihan ko rin ang kain
ng pampyesta naming pagkain—
Lucky Me’t kanin.

Nang ako’y mabilis tumubo’t lumaki
at maibenta rin ang isa kong kidney—

Para masigurong ang anim kong utol,
pati na si Mommy, si Lola’t si Baby
ay makakanguyang hindi kukulangin
sa kanin, sa daing, sa Lucky Me’t asin.





Photos by Dylan Yap Gozum. Intramuros, Manila.

Pobreng Patay

Kailan pa kaya ako mamamatay
nang may makain ulit kami?

Kasi nung ma-gang-rape si Ate
habang nagtitinda ng sampagita,
tatlong linggo kaming busog
dahil tatlong linggo rin ang lamay.

Bukod sa malakas ang kita sa abuloy,
malakas rin ang kita ng tong
sa Lucky 9, tong-its at mahjong.

Nabayaran ni Nanay ang utang sa tindahan.
Napaawit si Tatay sa gabi-gabing tagay.
Nakamtan ng anim kong kapatid ang mga pinapangarap na biskwet.
Nag-enjoy ang barangay sa kapeng walang humpay.

Pero dahil mag-iisang taon nang patay si Ate,
lahat na yata kami ay mamamatay na sa gutom.

Pero di bale,
hihigitan ko pa ang kay Ate’ng naibentang mga sampagita
nang ako’y makaipon ng pambili ng sariling kabaong
at nang may makain ulit kami sa makokolektang tong.

____________________________
Alexander de Juan is the Writers Guild's Poetry Editor. He is a Fellow of the 23rd U.P. National Writers Workshop and has received two national awards for his poetry, one from the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, and the other from Home Life publications. His poems appear in publications by the Cultural Center of the Philippines, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, Philippine Graphic, Home Life and other poetry journals. He is the senior English Editor at HDI.

STANZAS OF STILLNESS

Photo by Dylan Yap Gozum. Alan Fraser Activity Center.

Minsan ako'y tumambay sa canteen ng SPI
Doon sa may computer ako'y nagnilay-nilay
Dinukot ko ang isang silya at sa pila humanay
Pinagmasdan ang mga tao habang naghihintay

Maya't maya pa'y isip ko'y nagka-pakpak
Pumaroo't pumarito may indayog ang lipad
Samut-saring paksa ay kanyang kinalap
At sa mg talata aking ilalahad

Nagpapaligsahan ang tunog ng mga audio
Patuloy na nababasag ang katahimikan ng kanto
Tili at mga sigaw ng magagaspang na musiko
Siyang pinagpipistahan ng mga empleyado

Sa dulo ng cafe, isang lalaking mataba
Bilugan ang mukha, imahe ng isang ama
'Di pa rin makalimot sa hilig pambata
Kaya sa "cartoons" sumusulwak ang tuwa

Si Ining, di rin mapakali sa kanyang "Friendster"
Walang tigil na pinalalakbay ang sampung daliri
Sa mga pepeng letra ng keyboard ng computer
Daig pa ang kapilyuhan ng isang tenedyer

Kanyang pinagtabi-tabi sangkatutak na larawan
Bawat isa'y binubuksan, walang katapusan
"Maghapon man na sila ay tititigan
Sa ugali pa rin makikilala ang kaibigan"

Friendster, anime at mga musikang pasigaw
Ang nagpapagalaw ng kanilang mundo araw-araw
Sapat na ba ang isang dipang tanaw?
Malawak ang mundo, ikaw ay gumalaw

di mo man lamang subukang sulyapan
Ang mga balitang de-pakpak; nagliliparan
At mga kaalamang 'pinupunla ng mga paham
Na siyang humuhubog sa mga bubot na isipan

Iba na ba talaga ang mga tao ngayon
Wari'y tinatawid ang buhay nang paurong
Patulo'y na tumatakbo ang ating panahon
Huwag magpaiwan, ikaw ay bumangon.

________________________
Emil Bombita is a Journalism graduate of Bicol University. He joined the Writers Guild early this year as a member of the Circle of Poets. He is currently connected with SPi Legal.


Photo by Dylan Yap Gozum. Mall of Asia.

ako ito

rock 'n' roll umaga't gabi,
inuman t'wing may pagkakataon,
joke time kaliwa't kanan,
yosi dito, doon at kung saan-saan:
oo ako ito.

payo para sa mga kaibigan,
tulong sa mga nangangailangan,
magtratrabaho hanggang di na kaya,
mga sekreto na kailanman di ilalabas:
oo, ako ito.

ubo't sakit ng ulo,
butong nagtutunugan na parang orkestra,
pilay sa kung saan-saan,
puyat hanggang makakaya:
oo, ako ito.

lungkot na di mailabas-labas,
luha na tumutulo lamang sa diwa,
mga hinaing sa aking isipan,
at sugat sa puso't isipan:
oo, ako ito.

sa bawat tawa, merong iyak;
sa bawat lungkot, merong saya;
sa bawat tagumpay, may kabiguan;
sa bawat sugat, may ginhawa;
bago husgahan, mawari'y isipin muna
kung kilala mo nga bang tuluyan... ako.

— Wize, 08/05/2006
_________________________
WIZE, Resident Poet of the Writers Guild, is a Software Engineer at SPi CAiS.

STANZAS OF STILLNESS (POETRY OF, BY AND FOR THE PEOPLE)

The Writers Guild welcomes its two new Resident Poets. Here's a look at what they have in mind.

Photo by Dylan Yap Gozum (Baywalk, Manila)

My Little Angel

Watch over me from up the clouds
Where you are joined by all things that are good and nice.
Always remind me one way or the other
That I need to be good from the eyes of the One above.
I can't explain why tears are falling from my eyes
When I know that you're much more safer from where you are right now.
Guess that I'm always that selfish one
Who likes everything coming in his way.
Anyway, I'll try to be good. I'll even try to be nice.
Just promise me one thing:
I'll stay in your heart,
Just like you are in mine.
Goodbye for now my angel.

WIZE prefers to be known by his nom de plume. He is connected with SPi's Servisoft (SPS CAS).


Photo by Dylan Yap Gozum (Baywalk, Manila)

KATARUNGANG DI MAKATARUNGAN

Isa kang yurak sa harap ng mga tao
Binabato ng mga kawangis mo
Dambuhalang mga impakto
Na nagbabalat-kayo.
Putikang mga paa
Ang sa iyo'y sumisipa't tumatapak.
Lamang mortal, kaluluwang hiram
Inihahagis sa ningas na impyerno.
Paos mong lalamunan
Lumuluwa ng pagsusumamo
Sa heganteng gobyerno
Na isa ring engkanto

"Laman ng isang paslit
Halinhinan mong dinuhagi
At dinurog ang anghel na budhi.
Ga-butil lang na bait
Ang sa paslit sumagip
Hininga'y di mo inipit
Matapos magpumiglas
Ang awang nalalabi"

Ngayon...
Paano mo hahalungkatin
Ang kaban ng kapatawaran
Malalim na ibinabaon
At ipinagkakait ng inang bayan
Na iyong magulang.
Paano mo lulusawin
Masaklap na kasalanang
Sa iyo'y gumapos at kumunkon
Sa malagim na piita't
Hinihintay ng makamandag na karayom.

Ikaw ay mang-aapi ng isang inosente
Ikaw rin ay dinudusta ng mga disente
Mga buwaya sa silid na "air-con"
Nakangiti't bumebenta ng edukasyon
Kaya sa isipang bubot ikaw ay nakakulong
At naninirahan sa silong
Ng karunungang kakarampot
Kaya kaluluwa mo'y naging bulok
At sa katampalasa'y madaling naalok.

Ngayon...
Ang lason sa dulo ng karayom
Ang totodas sa abang buhay mo.
Udyok ng makasalanang Palasyo
Na hindi kailanma'y umaruga sayo
Lunukin mo na lamang
Ang pait ng katotohanan
Na ikaw ay hikahos at isang karaniwan
Tigang ang utak, kapos sa laban
Di tulad nila, kasalana'y di mo matatakasan
Ikaw ay isasalang sa pangil ng kamatayan

Ngayon...
Inabot mo na ang dulo ng iyong hininga
Di mo maihagis ang agam-agam
Na sumagupa sa iyong kaluluwa
Di ka makausad, naghihintay ng kasama
Hanggang sa masungkit ang mga tinig
Na umaalinagawngaw.
Ibinunbuga ng mga labing makasalanan
Nangagtatawa sa iyong kamatayan
Nagpayabong daw so korona ng katarungan.
Ikaw nama'y naaatat sa pagsipot
Ng mga kaluluwang mayayaman
Mga ganid na alaga ng pamahalaan
Na dumuduhagi sa buong sambayanan
At nagsisihalik sa kaban ng bayan
Hanggang kailan ka magihihintay?
Kailan... Kailan... Kailan?

Emil Bombita is a Journalism graduate of Bicol University. He is currently connected with SPI Legal.

POETRY OF, BY AND FOR THE PEOPLE

Alexander dela Cruz de Juan
English Editor, Healthcare Documentation

BIYAHENG SIDECAR
(Alay sa sidecar boys sa Kalye Estrada, Malate)

Bumiyahe nang konting bagahe;
t-shirt at short ay okey na sa magaang pamamasada.

Tig-isang padyak lang; paa ay dalawa lamang.
Di naman ’to pabilisan kundi papursigihan.

Magpahinga rin paminsan-minsan
nang luminaw ang desisyon sa direksyong pupuntahan.

At di ka naglalakbay nang mag-isa;
may pasahero kang kasama.

Lubak-lubak man ang kalsada
ikaw naman ang gumagawa ng sarili mong daan.

At sa unahan, may magandang pasaherong nag-aabang,
kaya’t ’wag kang tumigil, pumadyak ka lang.

(Mayo 30, 2006)


MUTYA

Ang mutya ng makata
ay para sa mata lamang

Ang tanging pagnanasa ng makata
ay ang hubad na salita
at hindi ang hubad na katawan
ng kanyang mutya.

Alam ng makata
na nananatili ang ganda
ng hubad na kagandahan
kung babasahin lamang
at hindi hahawakan.

Kaya nga't nakasulat sa ilalim
ng naka-eksibit na nude painting:
"PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH."


AKO ANG PRESIDENTE NG AKING SARILI

Inay,
di po ba't sabi n'yo akong pangulo ng sarili ko
pero bakit po sila may Edsa Tres at Kwatro?

Inay,
kung ang pangulo ng bahay
ay ang mabait kong tatay
dahil 'pag sumigaw ako
ng "Ito ang gusto ko!"
sagot n'ya'y "Isipin mo
ang mga kapatid mo."
Kailangan pa ba natin ng Pangulo ng Pilipinas?

Inay,
kung ang presidente ng dyip
ay ang drayber na mabait
dahil 'pag sumigaw ako
ng "Para! Para! Para!"
ay sasagot s'ya,
"Sa Tabi lang po, ha."
Kailangan pa ba natin ng Pangulo ng Pilipinas?

Inay,
kung ako ang presidente ng aking sarili
ba't panagarap po nilang mag-Edsa Beinte-Syete?

(May 1, 2006)