Ampalaya

AMPALAYA: ISANG LIHAM PARA SA AKING MGA MAG-AARAL NG FILIPINO SA ANN ARBOR*
(For Abby, Colleen, Melissa, Mel, Jay, Jeremy, Jillian, Tom, Antoinette, Jason, Jerry, Clare, and Marco)

Ampalaya.
Mapait na gulay
Ang ampalaya.

Kasimpait ng mga salaysay
Mula sa tinubuang bayan:
Dose anyos na bata, nagbigti dahil sa kahirapan.
Dalawang estudyanteng aktibista,
Ginahasa at pinahirapan ng militar.
Pitong mangggawang magsasaka,
Binaril habang nagwewelga.

Sana’y hindi ganito kapait
Ang mga balitang natatanggap.
Sana’y maaaring ibabad
Sa asin,
Banlawan sa tubig,
Pigain hanggang sa mawala ang pait
Tulad ng pagkikibit-balikat at pagbibingi-bingihan
Ng ilang kababayan.
Tulad ng paghahanda ng ampalaya.

Kung sana’y makapagkuwento na lang ako
Ng istoryang singtamis ng leche flan,
Singsarap at singlutong
Ng lechon.
Ngunit walang tamis-sarap-lutong
Sa balita sa panahon
Ng panganib at panlilinlang
Sa ating bayan.

Ngunit kung makikinig kayo,
Mahal kong mga mag-aaral,
Sa mga kuwentong ampalaya
Mula sa bayan ng inyong mga ninuno,
Inyong mababatid
Na ang pagiging Filipino,
Ay wala sa dila at tiyan
Na kayang sikmurain ang pagkain
Ng ampalayang malupit ang pait.

BITTER MELON: A LETTER TO MY FILIPINO LANGUAGE CLASS STUDENTS IN ANN ARBOR
(Abby, Colleen, Melissa, Mel, Jay, Jeremy, Jillian, Tom, Antoinette, Jason, Jerry, Clare and Marco)

Ampalaya.
The bitter melon is true to its name.
Bitter.

Bitter like stories from the homeland:
The twelve-year old girl who hanged herself
To escape poverty;
Two student activists,
Raped and tortured by the military.
Seven peasant workers massacred
At the hacienda picket line.

I wish the stories were not this bitter.
Perhaps I can rub them with salt,
Rinse them in water,
Squeeze the bitterness out,
The way many kababayans think
Forgetting is as simple
As taking the bitterness
Out of ampalaya.

Perhaps I could tell you stories
As sweet as leche flan
Or as succulent and crispy as lechon skin.
But sweet-succulent-crispy is not on the menu
In times of danger and deceit.

And yet, should you listen,
Even for a moment,
To these ampalaya stories of the homeland,
Then you will know that being Filipino
Is not about
Having the stomach
To eat the bitter melon.
Ampalaya.

Joi Barrios, BAYAN Women’s Desk (Bagong Alyansang Makabayan)
*This poem was read on November 10, 2007 at the Filipino Cultural Night at the University of Michigan Ann Arbor.

Prutas

Note: English translation follows

PRUTAS*
Ni Joi Barrios

(inspired by Pablo Neruda’s “The United Fruit Company”)

Gusto mo ba ng pinya?
Iyong pantay ang pagkakahiwa,
May sukat na tamang-tama
At tamis na hindi pumapalya.

Magbukas ng lata ng Del Monte Pineapple.

Gusto mo ba ng saging?
Iyong pare-pareho ang sukat,
Kahit medyo mapakla,
Walang peklat ang balat.

Magtalop ng Dole banana.

Gusto mo ba ng papaya?
Di lang para sa sikmura
Kundi mabisang pampaputi, pampakinis
Kutis na kaakit-akit.

Namnamin ang papaya puree ng Passina,
Imported mula sa Europa,
Pero huwag ka, piniga sa bunga
na pinitas sa Surallah.

Ang prutas sa ating isip,
Pag sa bote o lata ay laging mas matamis.
Ang lason ng pestisidyo ay nasa utak,
Nasa ating patuloy na pagkabihag.

FRUITS*
(Inspired by Pablo Neruda’s “United Fruit Company”)

Would you like a pineapple?
Uniformly sliced,
Unfailingly sweet?

Open a can of Del Monte Pineapple.

Would you like a banana,
Bland but unblemished?

Peel a Dole banana.

Would you like some papaya?
Not just for dessert
But for an Asian woman’s dream
Of fairer skin.

Avail of papaya products from Passina.
Imported from Europe,
But made from fruits picked in Surallah,
Twice circling the globe
For customers like you.

Canned fruits are sweeter
In minds poisoned by the pesticides
Of a country’s colonial past.

*The poem was requested by the Instituto Cervantes . It was read in a program honoring Pablo Neruda and featuring Filipino poets influenced by Neruda.

To a Faithful Shopper

SA MAMIMILI NG NESTLE (TO A FAITHFUL SHOPPER)


Ang kape sa iyong tasa,
Ang gatas sa iyong kape,
Ang tubig sa pagtimpla,
Ay gawa ng manggagawa
sa pabrika ng Nestle.

Ang cereal sa almusal
Ang sampalok sa sinigang
Ang noodles na pangminindal
Ay tinda ng kapitalista
Ng kumpanya ng Nestle.

Sa pagitan ng manggagawa
At kapitalista,
Nariyan ka, butihing mamimili, nariyan ka.
May piketlayn na tinatawid nang walang malay
Sa bawat produktong binabayaran.

Kaya’t sa paghigop ng sabaw,
Paanong matutunawan?
Sa bawat pagsubo at pagnguya
Paanong di tatablan ng pagkutya?
Patatamisin ba ang bawat sakit ng pulis-batuta
ng tsokolateng panghimagas?
Lulunukin ba natin ang bawat pandarahas?

Tandaan. Kahit ang Alpo Dry Dog Food
Para sa minamahal mong si Bantay
Ay may dugo ng lider-manggagawang pinaslang.
Ay may dugo ng lider-manggagawang pinaslang.


TO A FAITHFUL SHOPPER*

The coffee in your cup,
The milk in your coffee,
The water your drink,
All these are made by the workers
Of Nestle factory.

The cereal you have for breakfast,
The tamarind paste for your Asian-style soup,
The instant noodles you snack on,
Are all sold by the capitalists
Of Nestle company.

Between the workers and the capitalists,
You stand, faithful shopper, you stand.
Each time you purchase a product,
Unknowingly crossing the picket lines.

So as you slurp your soup,
Does your stomach not growl?
As you munch and chew,
Does sarcasm not bite?
For how can truncheon beatings of workers
Make chocolates semi-sweet?

Remember. Even Alpo Dry Dog Food
For your beloved Spot
Is poisoned by the blood of the union leader slain.
Is poisoned by the blood of the union leader slain.


*This poem is for Diosdado Fortuno, president of the Nestle Workers’ Union in the Philippines, who was slain on September 22, 2005. Meliton Roxas, former union president, was similarly gunned down in 1988.

Joi Barrios, BAYAN Women’s Desk and the National Council for the Protection of Workers’ Rights (NCPWR)
27 Setyembre 2005

The photo is from Arkibong Bayan.

LITANYA NG AKING PAGHAHANAP/ LITANY OF MY SEARCH

LITANYA NG PAGHAHANAP
(Para sa mga magulang nina Jonas, Karen at Sherlyn at sa mga pamilya nina Luisa at Nilo ng Panay)

Hinahanap ko
Siyang nawawala.

Pinagtatagpi ang mga ebidensiya,
Pinagdudugtong ang mga salaysay,
Idinudulog sa hukuman.

Hinahanap ko
Siyang nawawala.

Iwinawaksi ang masamang panaginip:
Ang maliit, madilim na silid,
Ang pagpapahirap at panaghoy
Ang karsel na walang pangalan at lunan.

Hinahanap ko
siyang nawawala.

Kahit di malaman ang simula’t
Hantungan ng paglalayag.
Makipagtawaran kaya sa kapalaran?
Ibalik niyo ang bugbog, laspag na katawan,
Mapaghihilom ang bawat sugat.
Isauli niyo ang baliw ang isipan
Mapanunumbalik ang katinuan.
Ibigay niyo sa akin ang pira-pirasong buto,
Ang gula-gulanit na laman,
At kahit pa, kahit pa,
ang bangkay na di na makilala.

At tatanggapin ng aking puso,
Siyang nawawala
Siyang hinahanap
Siyang minamahal.

Ngunit huwag,
Huwag akalaing ako’y nakikiusap,
Nagmamakaawa, o naninikluhod.
Ang dapat isakdal
Ay silang sa kanya’y dumukot,
Silang nilalaro ang batas sa kanilang palad,
Silang utak ng pandarahas.

Hinahanap ko
Siyang nawawala
At siyang nawawala
Ay naghahanap ng katarungan.

Katarungan!


Joi Barrios-Leblanc, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN)

------------


From the Original Poem in Filipino – “Litanya ng Paghahanap” by Joi Barrios-Leblanc of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN)

LITANY OF MY SEARCH
(For the parents of Jonas, Karen and Sherilyn and the families of Luisa and Nilo of Panay)
English Translation by Ninotchka Rosca, GABNET


I seek out
The vanished.

Piecing together eyewitness tales,
Assembling evidence,
And take my case
To the courts of justice.

I seek out
The disappeared.

Sidestepping nightmares,
Dark, damp rooms of torture
And moans,
Prisons of no name, no address.

I search
For the missing.

Not knowing where the journey starts
Nor where it will end.
The heart haggles with fate:
Hand me the battered body,
Wounds can be healed;
Return the disturbed mind,
Sanity can be restored;
Tender me the broken bones,
The ripped-off flesh,
Even the unrecognizable corpse,

And the heart will welcome
What it has sought,
The disappeared,
The beloved.

Yet do not misconstrue even for a moment
That I ask, or beg for mercy.
Take the abductors to trial,
Those who mock the law,
Masterminds of violence.

I seek the missing,
As the missing seeks justice.

Justice!

The photo is from Arkibong Bayan.

Bayan Muna and the Election Surveys

While this may be a blog devoted to poetry, I cannot help but state my support for Bayan Muna because of its principles and its commitment to sovereignty, human rights, and service to the poor and the oppressed.

Similarly, I supporting the candidates it has endorsed: Loren Legarda, Kiko Pangilinan, Chiz Escudero, Manny Villar, Alan Cayetano, Koko Pimentel, Joker Arroyo, Ralph Recto, Nikki Coseteng and Sonia Roco.

More than 800 political activists have been victims of political killings; more than a hundred of them organizers or supporters of Bayan Muna and its allied party lists Anakpawis and Gabriela. There is no greater evidence of commitment to service.

Kaya ba yang tapatan ng ibang party list groups?

At sa mga nanlalait na ibang writer diyan sa Bayan Muna at tinatawag itong communist front, kapag handa na kayong itaya ang buhay niyo para sa bayan at sa pinaniniwalaan niyo, saka na lang kayo magsalita. Ipinagpapasalamat ko na lang na wala ako noong nakaraang Palanca night to receive my awards at baka napaaway lang ako.

(Note: Photo shows myself as emcee of the 2004 Bayan Muna Miting de Avance.)

SORPRESA

I have been posting political poems. Here is a love poem I wrote two years ago. joi

SORPRESA


Nagmamang-maangan ako
tuwing aking kaarawan.

Nahuhulaan ko ang birthday cake,
Putaheng masarap
At lobong lumilipad-lipad
Ngunit nagpapanggap
Na walang nalalaman.
Pagbukas ng pintuan,
Tiyak ko nang sa pagbungad
Ay may sigaw ng pagbati,
Ngunit umaakma pa ring gulat
Samantalang abot tenga ang ngiti,
At masayang nagpapasalamat.

Ganito rin ang pagsinta.
Parang sorpresa.
Kapwa kaya na naghihintay,
Nag-aabang ng pagtatapat?
Pigilan pa ang damdaming umaalpas.
Huwag tusukin agad
Ang lobo ng pangarap.


Joi Barrios
Ika-15 ng Marso 2005

Yankee Doodle Goes To War

See English translation below:


YANKEE DOODLE GOES TO WAR
Joi Barrios
BAYAN Women’s Desk (National Patriotic Alliance Women’s Desk)


Pilipina ako.
At sa bayan ko ngayon
Tatlong libong Amerikanong sundalo
Ang naroon.
Ito ang awit ko,
Awit ng pagkutya, hinagpis, at pagtawag.

Yankee doodle came to town
Riding on a pony
Killed and maimed and tortured us
And called it a… democracy.

Amerika, Amerika,
Kay dali mong lumimot, Amerika.
Ipinagpapalit ang dugo makapangyari
lamang.
Pagkat ano ang halaga ng buhay
Ng mahirap?
Ang halaga ng buhay
Ng taong may kulay?
Bawat Pilipino’y may pilat na nagdurugo
Pilat ng bayang sinakop ng dahas.

Yankee doodle keep it up,
Yankee doodle dandy,
Burn the village and the town,
And with your gun be handy.

Balangiga, 1901.
Ang hudyat ng batingaw
Ay tawag ng pag-aklas.
Hubdin ang balatkayo,
Bayani at bandido ay iisa,
Lusubin ang kaaway,
At itarak sa kanyang dibdib
ang patalim, ang sibat!
Ang poot at himagsik!
Hayaang umalingangaw ang kampana,
Himig na nagbabanta’t nang-uusig
Layas, layas, sa aming bayan ay lumayas

Yankee doodle comes again
Riding on a fighter
Brings his war to my country
And calls it a … democracy.

Amerika, Amerika. .
Patungo kang lagi sa digma, Amerika.
Ipinagpapalit ang dugo para sa langis
Ang bayan ko’y hindi palaruan
Ng iyong mga tanke’t sundalo. .
Ang bayan ay di lamang lupa,
O bundok o dagat,
Ikamamatay namin ang iyong mga punglo,
Ikawawasak namin ang iyong mga bomba.
Kami’y mahirap lang,
Kami’y taong may kulay,
Ngunit inaawit namin ang dangal,
Ang laya, ang kapayapaan.
Layas, Amerika,
Sa aking bayan ay lumayas.

Yankee doodle keeps it up
Brandishing his weapon.
War games are fun games!
And you can call it… DEMOCRACY!
.
Sa Estados Unidos ng Amerika,
Nananahan ang batingaw,
Sagisag ng kanilang hapis
at ng ating miminsang tagumpay. .
Ang dayong sundalo’y walang tigil
Sa pagdating.
Kunwang larong digma
Ay larong buhay ang kinikitil.
At ang babaeng ginagahasa
Ay sagisag ng pag-angkin.
Tinig ba’y magsabatingaw?
Dinala nila sa ating bayan ang digmaan!
Ano pa’ng hinihintay na higit
Na trahedyang hudyat?
Ilang kababayan ang malalagas
sa digmaan?
Sa kampana lahat ay kumalampag,
Layas, layas, sa aking bayan ay lumayas!



YANKEE DOODLE/LAYAS

I am a Filipina woman.
And in my country
There are three thousand American soldiers.
This is my song,
My song of satire, my lament,
My call to action.

Yankee doodle came to town
Riding on a pony
Killed and maimed and tortured us
And called it a… democracy.

America, America
How easily you forget, America.
You traded lives for power.
What is the value of life
In a poor country?
The value of life
Of a person of color?
We shall forever bleed.
Filipinos marked
By the violence of your war.


Yankee doodle, keep it up,
Yankee doodle dandy,
Burn the village and the town,
And with your gun be handy.

Balangiga, 1901.
The bells signal a call to arms
Remove your disguises,
Bandit and hero are one,
Attack the enemy,
And plunge into his heart
The dagger, the spear,
Anger and revolt!
Let the bells ring!
Music that threatens and condemns
Leave, leave, leave our land!

Yankee doodle comes again
Riding on a fighter
Brings his war to my country
And calls it a … democracy.

America, America
Off to war always, America.
Trading blood for oil.
My country is not a playground
For your tanks and soldiers.
A nation is not just land,
Mountains, sea.
We die with your bullets,
We perish with your bombs.
We live in poverty,
We are people of color,
Yet we sing of dignity,
Sovereignty, and peace.
Leave, America,
Leave my country, leave.

Yankee doodle keeps it up
Brandishing his weapon.
War games are fun games!
And you can call it… DEMOCRACY!

In the United States of America
The bells reside.
A symbol of their grief
And our rare victory.
Soldiers endlessly march
Back to our land.
Playing war games.
Death games.
And the woman raped
Makes conquest complete.
Shall our voices ring as bells?
They have brought the war into our land!
What greater tragedy do we yet await?
How many shall perish in the war?
Ring the bells! Ring the bells!
Leave, leave, leave our land!

LIHAM SA MGA MAG-AARAL NG UNIBERSIDAD NG PILIPINAS

LIHAM SA MGA MAG-AARAL NG UNIBERSIDAD NG PILIPINAS
Ni Joi Barrios-Leblanc
Congress of Teachers for Nationalism and Democracy (CONTEND)∗


Hubo’t hubad,
Nakadipa’t nakatingala sa langit
Ang estatwa sa harap ng Quezon Hall.
Iskolar ng bayan
Na nag-aalay ng buhay
Para sa bayan.

Ngunit kung ang iskolar
Ay di na iskolar,
Kung ang pag-aaral
Ay di na abot-kamay
Ng walang yaman,
Ang estatwa’y bakit hindi damitan,
At telang itim ay ibalabal?
Tumutol at magluksa!
Anong kahihiyan ng bayang
Di kumakalinga sa kanyang kabataan!

Pagkat may pangako na binigo,
Batayang prinsipyong naglaho.
Na ang bawat mag-aaral
Sa pinagpipitagang pamantasan
Ay iskolar ng kanyang bayan.
Dapat sana’y, sa simula’t dulo,
Buong-buo,
Iskolar ng kanyang bayan.

End Political Killings!

PAGTINDIG*
By Joi Barrios-Leblanc, Bayan Women’s Desk

Gaano kadali ang pagpaslang?
Sansaglit, at may nakitil nang buhay.
May punglo na humahagibis
At may pag-asa na napapatid.

How easily can a life be taken?
Swiftly, perhaps a moment,
A bullet breezes
And hope stands still.

Gaano katagal
Ang ating paglalamay?
Hintayin bang ang luha ay maglawa
At ang telang itim na yumayakap
Sa bawat bangkay ay maging dagat?

How long shall we mourn?
Our tears turn into lakes,
A sea of black
Draping the dead.

Luhang alat, dagat alat.
Paanong malulunok itong dahas?

We taste salt in our tears.
How does one drink
The bitterness of the sea?

Sinong hindi malulunod sa hinagpis?
Bawat dibdib ay sumisikip.
Sa bawat pagluluksa,
Habol ang hininga
Nagtatalo ang pangamba at galit
Sa bawat panganib na hinaharap.
Isa-isa tayo na kanilang nilalagas,
At ating tinatanong:
Sinong nag-uutos, sinong nagbabayad
Sa bawat pusong dinudurog,
At utak na pinapasabog?


How do we not drown in sorrow?
We grieve gasping for breath.
Anger and fear contend
at the dangers
We face.
One by one, they will kill us all,.
So we ask:
Who signs the death warrants?
Who pays for silenced tongues,
Brains blowing,
hearts suddenly still?

Hindi tayo, kundi sila
ang alipin ng pangamba, kaya’t namumuksa.
Ating tandaan, laging tandaan,
Matwid ang pinaglalaban.
Sa bawat pagkapit-bisig,
sa bawat welga at pag-aalsa,
Ang binabawi natin ay dangal,
Ang inaangkin ay karapatan.
Patag ang lupa kung saan tayo nakatindig.
Ang bayan na pinapaslang, ano’t di sisigaw ng himagsik?

Our executioners
Are slaves of fear.
The blood that does not run cold
Is the blood of the righteous.
Linking arms,
In the picketlines and the streets,
In all our fields of battle,
We stand,
Demanding dignity,
Claiming our rights.
We stand,
on leveled ground.
Slay the people,
And ask not
why the people revolt.


Ika-18 ng Marso 2005
18 March 2005

*This poem, read at a gathering of civil libertarians at the Asian Center on March 19, 2005, responds to the slaying of Victor Conception of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas, Tarlac City councilor and Bayan Muna member Abelardo Ladera, Mer Dizon of Anakpawis party list, and Rev. William Tadena, a supporter of Hacienda Luisita strikers.

Wedding poem

PAGLAMPAS SA GUHIT NA BILOG
(Para kay Pierre, sa araw ng ating kasal)

Kala-kalahati, pira-piraso
Ako kung umibig.
Isang paa sa loob,
Isang paa sa labas,
Ng guhit na bilog.

Ipinaglaban ko ang mga pagsintang
Walang katuparan.
Ikinataba ng puso
Ang mga laro ng laman
Ng laging laro lamang.
At nabuhay akong pira-piraso,
Kala-kalahati
Ang pagtingin sa pagtangi.

At ika’y dumating.
At ika’y dumating.
At inibig ako nang buong-buo,
Lampas-langit,
Ano’t labis labis?

Paanong naibabalik
ang dalisay na pag-ibig?
Anong itutumbas,
Habang nangangambang
Baka iyong masilip
Na puso ko’y may pilat?

Ikaw ang huli,
Ang tunay kong pag-irog.
Walang labas, walang loob,
Walang guhit na bilog,
Buong-buo,
Ako’y iyo,
Isang pag-ibig na walang sulok,
Walang hanggan sa pagbulusok.







BEYOND CIRCLES
(For Pierre)

I was used
To piece-meal loves,
One foot in,
One foot out
The circle of choice.

I fought for tragic passions,
And plumped my heart
With games of the flesh.
And thus I lived a piece-meal life,
Thinking love was such.

And you came.
Loving all of me,
And I ask,
How could one be loved so much?

How does one return
A love so pure?
How can I match
Such affection,
While fearing you might catch
a glimpse of my battle-scarred heart?

You are the last, now the only,
Love of my life.
There are no lines,
no circles,
because i am yours,
in a love that has no corners,
no bounds.

Joi Barrios
4 December 2005

ANG PAGIGING BABAE AY PAMUMUHAY SA PANAHON NG DIGMA

TO BE A WOMAN IS TO LIVE AT A TIME OF WAR


To be a woman
Is to live at a time of war.

I grew up
with fear beside me,
uncertain of a future,
hinged to the men of my life;
father, brother,
husband, son.
I was afraid to be alone.

To be a mother
Is to look at poverty at its face.
For the cruelty of war
Lies not on heads that roll,
But tables always empty.
How does one look for food for the eldest
As a baby sucks at one’s breast?

No moment is without danger.
In one’s own home,
To speak, to defy
Is to challenge violence itself.
In the streets,
Walking at nightfall
Is to invite a stranger’s attack.
In my country
To fight against oppression
Is to lay down one’s life for the struggle.

I seek to know this war.
To be a woman is a never ceasing battle
To live and be free.

Welcome to My Blog!

i have been described as a web-elusive poet. Hopefully, I can post my poetry and recent pictures in this website. Welcome!