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.

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