Post by thepoetslizard on Oct 10, 2008 16:00:15 GMT 2
Maria Victoria Beltran is a writer in several genres -- poetry, fiction, children's literature, drama, and nonfiction - in both Cebuano and English. She has written columns for What's on in the Visayas and Cebu Daily News for several years. She currently writes a column for Gold Star Daily and for Bite Magazine. Also a visual artist and a figurative clay sculptor, she is member of the Board of Trustees of Pusod Inc. (an open organization of visual artists), treasurer of Bathalad, Inc. (an organization of Cebuano writers using the vernacular) and past chairperson of Women in Literary Arts, Inc. She has written a book on the History of Lapunti Arnis de Abaniko
and its Grandmasters and has published her poems, short stories and other literary works in several anthologies, magazines and newspapers. She is at work on a history of Pinamungajan town as part of the Cebu Provincial History Project. She is also active in local Cebuano films as scriptwriter and actress. She runs a garden restaurant and a pension house in uptown Cebu City called Kukuk's Nest. Maria Victoria earned her Bachelor of Science in Biology and Associate in Fine Arts degrees from the University of the Philippines Visayas College Cebu.
All translations of the following Cebuano poems, are by the author as well.
"PAGPANGITA SA KATAPUSANG ROMANTIKO"
Samtang nagbasa ko sa imong balak
wala nako tuyoa. Paghandum
sa lalaki nga nikagiw na.
Kadtung mohatag sa katapusan
nga lingkoranan. Mokapyot
sa trisikad aron lang
ang akong sampot mahimutang.
Kadtung mopadala sa sulat
nga tam-is og dila. Mokutlo
sa bitoon og bulak sa
kangkong kay kanako ihalad.
Kadtung dili motawag kanako
ug borikat. Mopalandong
sa hinungdan ngano nga
ako namaligya niining
biko nga gitamastamasan.
(Asa na man to siya?
Kay kining akong kasingkasing
nga nagkamuritsing. Kinahanglan
nga salbahon sa mga tiaw ning panahon.)
"In Search of the Last Romantic"
While I read your poem
It suddenly came to me- To think
of the man who went away.
He who gave up the last
seat. He who clung
to the trisikad* just to
give my butt a space.
He who sent the letter
with the sweet tongue. Who plucked
the stars and the flowers of
Kangkong* and offered them to me.
He who did not call me
a whore. Reminisced
why i have become
a vendor of my
abused rice cake.
(Where is he?
because this heart
long stained. This heart needs
a savior against the cruel time.)
*trisikad is a popular mode of public transport in the Philippines; a combination of bicycle or motorcycle and sidecar, it can ferry up to five or sometimes more passengers, who might literally be hanging onto it.
*kangkong is the Philippine water spinach; its white flowers are not really decorative and would not last long in a vase.
*
"SA AKONG PAGLAKAW"
Pawnga ang mga suga sa poste
nga naglinya dinhi
sa nagkatawa nga dalan
nga atong agianan.
Paandara ang radyo
aron mapawong ang kukabildo,
lumsi ang mga tagay
nga dugay nang nilabay.
Kuhaa ang mga botelya
sa bino, ibabaw sa lamesa
ug biraha ang hapin
nga dinhi nagpabilin.
Badlonga ang mga iro
sa atong lagwerta
nga naghulat
sa akong mga tunob.
Ang kataposan nga sonata
patukara ug isul-ob
makausa pa ang sinina
nga saksi sa atong himaya.
Pangitaa ang akong
mga pulong inig mata
sa abog nga natulog
ilawom sa katre
sa kanhing pagbati.
Kalimti ang mga hunghong
nga sa kasakit niusbong
Yab-i og tubig
ang nikatkat nga kalayo
Kay kitang duha
nasaag na
sa kalibonan
sa atong mga lasang.
Lupad pahilayo
kuyog ang mga ani
sa atong mga gabii
Ug ayaw kalimti-
pawnga ang mga suga sa poste.
"When I Leave"
Switch off the lamp posts
that line
the laughing lane
of our road.
Switch on the radio
to close the conversation,
drown the cheers
that has long been gone.
Take the bottles
of wine from the table
and rip the tablecloth
that is still there.
Silence the dogs
in our yard
who are still waiting
for my footsteps.
Turn on the last song
and once again, wear the dress
that has seen our bliss.
Look for my words
when the sleeping dust
under our old bed, awakens
Forget the whispers
sprouting from sadness
And pour water
on the creeping fire
because the two of us
are now lost, in the thickets
of our jungle.
Fly away
together with the harvest
of all our nights
And don't forget-
Switch off the lights
of the lamp posts.
*
"SAYONG KABUNTAGON"
Gidaman ang alibangbang, nagsalimuang.
Nilili ang adlaw luyo sa panganod.
Nahigmata ang Sampaguita nga natulog.
Nigimaw ang gamot nga nitago.
Nisayaw ang dahon sa Anahaw.
Niurong ang bato nga gitumban.
Nikatawa ang lumot sa nataran.
Nibatog ang Tamsi sa sanga.
Nigawas ang Wati nga nagluklok.
Nibuka ang Mimosa nga nagpahipi.
Nihuyop ang hanging bugnaw
Sa akong nawong. Gipukaw niya
Kining kalag nga sa pipila ka oras,
Nagdamgo niining tanan.
"Early in the Morning"
The uneasy butterfly sleepwalks
The sun peeps behind the clouds
The sleeping Jasmine awakes
The hiding root emerges
The Anahaw* leaf dances
The stepping stones do not move
The moss in the garden laughs
The Tamsi* perches on the branch
The wily earthworm comes out
The shy Mimosa* opens up
The cold wind blows
in my face. He stirs
this soul that just
a couple of hours before,
dreamt of this all.
*Anahaw- national leaf of the Philippines; fan-like in shape
*Tamsi- a small bird found everywhere in the Philippines.
*Mimosa- plant whose leaves close when touched by wind or by a human hand.
