Two poems by Allan Popa (translated from the Filipino by Bernard Capinpin) Artwork by Lorina Tayag Capitulo
Narrative
I wish to be a monk
is what I often tell anyone
whom I want to befriend.
The kind that doesn’t show himself to others
for solitude is prayer.
I would not be surprised if they mention
that a dream not far from my own
had once entered their minds.
If it had been in the aisle of a monastery where we
had first met, perhaps, we would have paused together
at a single bead of a mystery we recited on our way
back to each of our own cells at the corner
to bow for a moment as a recognition
that we have already met
although it is only our hands that can be seen.
*
Salaysay
Gusto kong maging monghe
ang madalas kong masabi sa sinuman
na nais kong maging kaibigan.
Iyong tipong hindi nagpapakita sa iba
dahil dasal ang pag-iisa.
Hindi na ako nagtataka kung mabanggit din
na minsan nang pumasok sa kanilang isip
ang hangad na hindi nalalayo sa akin.
Kung sa pasilyo man ng monasteryo kami
unang nagtapo, marahil, kapwa kami mapapahinto
sa isang butil ng misteryong inuusal sa landas
patungo sa kani-kaniyang munting silid sa bingit
upang saglit na tumungo bilang pagkilala
na minsan na kaming nagkakilala
bagamat kamay lamang sa aming ang nakikita.
Surrounded by Windows
I live in a house that had long been burrowed by termites,
that’s why the door no longer fits the doorway.
I leave my room surrounded with books of poetry
that I carefully stack, stack so that the walls
would regain support though all else
should become unsteady if the roof evens.
My books are cherished by termites, especially
those unread for a long time; their stomachs create
a thousand rooms and windows from the towers of paper
that do not collapse because its gravity remains
compact between the gaps. One day, it came to me
that my space has almost been taken up by books I haven’t read.
Until my room is filled with my own hesitation:
a home of waiting for a free morning of solitude.
Libot ng Durungawan
Nakatira ako sa bahay na matagal nang ginuwang ng anay
kaya’t ang mga pinto hindi na maglapat sa pintuan.
Ang aking silid pinaliligiran ko na lang ng mga aklat ng tula
na maingat kong sinasalansan, sinasalansan upang mapatatag muli
ang mga dingding kahit na sadyang magiging mabuway
ang lahat kapag pumantay na sa aking taas.
Paboritong pagkain ng anay ang mga aklat lalo na
Ang mga matagal nang hindi nagagalaw; lumilikha ng libong silid
at durungawan ang kanilang skimura sa mga gusaling papel
na hindi naman gumuguho sapagkat nananatiling masinsin
ang grabedad sa mga puwang. Isang araw, namalayan ko na lang
halos maagawan na ako ng espasyo ng mga naipong balak-basahin.
Hanggang mapuno ang aking silid ng aking mga pag-aantala:
tahanan ng pahihintay sa malayang umaga ng pagi-iisa.
Allan Popa is the author of ten books of poetry, including Hunos (Ateneo de Naga University Press, 2016), Damagan (UST Publishing House, 2018), and Narkotiko at Panganorin (Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2018). He was awarded the Philippines Free Press Literary Award in 1998–1999 and the Manila Critics Circle National Book Award for his books Morpo (Collective Axis, 2001) and Samsara (Amado V. Hernandez Resource Center, 2002). He won the Academy of American Poets Graduate Prize and the Norma Lowry Prize while getting his MFA in Writing at Washington University in Saint Louis. He received his Ph.D. in Literature from De La Salle University. He teaches Writing and Philippine Literature at Ateneo de Manila University. His new book of poems, Autopsiya ng Aking Kamatayan, is forthcoming in 2019 from DLSU Publishing House.
Bernard Capinpin is a poet and translator. He is currently working on a translation of Ramon Guillermo’s Ang Makina ni Mang Turing. He resides in Quezon City.
Lorina Tayag Capitulo is a multimedia artist working in various medium and art genres. Since 1987, she has received multiple awards in competitions for sculpture and painting. In 2001, she was awarded a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts Decentralization Program for her project “Dream Weavers.” Her work has been exhibited in the ASEAN Sculpture Exhibition/Workshop at the Brunei Darussalam Museum in Seri Begawan; the Reino de Este Mundo International Gallery/Biblioteca Nacional Jose Marti in Havana, Cuba; the Agora Gallery in New York City; The Puffin Cultural Forum, Teaneck, New Jersey; Chatham College in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania; the Galeria de las Islas in Intramuros, Manila; the Cultural Center of the Philippines; the Philippine Center in Manhattan; the Heckscher Museum in Huntington; the Islip Art Museum; the Founder’s Brewery in Michigan; and most recently, the Pinto Art Museum in the Philippines.
