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.