Lang-ay Beckons

Swathed, blood and night,

dancing the road to Eyeb:

Ten tribes, red and black.

 

(All readers are invited to the Lang-ay Festival from March 29 to April 7. The tribes from the 10 towns comprising the Mountain Province will hold its unity and solidarity festival with sports and cultural competitions, as well as the Tribal Street Dancing on April 7.  Come one. come all!!!)

I-Chorya Haiku

Cha… men fartek tako

tai inlateng is maschem.

Ad-i kasin um-mes.

 

(Oh…. let us get drunk

for it will be cold tonight:

Won’t take a bath again.)

I-Agawa Haiku

Ai mai-wed inapoy?

Adi tako met nen-mula

tai wada nan udan.

 

(Is the rice not cooked?

We haven’t planted the seeds

even when there’s rain.)

La Trinidad Haiku

Sunswept, the valley floor

burst into a song of roses

Drowned by Balili’s stench.

Sagada Haiku 2

I pinched your plump breasts

until your impassioned curses:

Ringing bells of Saint Mary.

Long Road Home

Mostly sand and gravel

Raising dust, stinging the eyes:

I cry when going home.

La Trinidad, on the way home.

View from Paling

Nangatu nan filig
nu ka guab nan kawad-am,
ad ngatu, nan wanga.

(The mountain is high
if you’re looking from the ground,
from above, the river.)

Chico Haiku 01

Narukit nan chanum,

umegyat nan nuang ai um-mes:

kudkudan nan i-Chorya.

(The water is filthy,

Carabaos scared to  bath:

Itchy are the people.)

Samoki Haiku 01

Wad-ay ngen ta-kho isdi

no ad-acha-em nan wanga?

Cha! ad Kidla, men-umuma.

(Is  any soul there

where the river runs  deep?

In Kidla, farming the fields.)

Lang-Ay Haiku 02

Eyeb, Caluttit
Chakchakan, Fab-bey:
Not songs, nor lullabye.

With kids fresh from school, Banaue, 2007