A journal of art + literature engaging with nature, culture, the environment & ecology

Three Poems by Rolinda Onates Española

Rolinda Onates Española, The Philippines-Singapore

 

Stitches

 

Poetry abroad are stitches of words

Rhymes and rhythms of pain

Creatively sewn together

Behind closed doors

With tears of silent cries

Pen and paper are the only 

Witness of heartaches

Disappointments and inequalities

People clap their hands

To a great masterpiece

To great words

Full of feelings

Yet nobody realizes

It's the truth

What she writes

Because here

People admire hypocrisy

Others use a platform of humanity

To disguise a false empathy

And they all applaud

Her sad poetry

Everyday

 

Poetry at home are patches of giggles

Rhythms of laughter

Rhymes of endless hugs

Unconditionally bound together

Inside this simple home

With screams of happiness

Where words are unscribbled achievements

Kindness and humility

Remain in silence

Where here

People don't notice

The great masterpiece

The great works

That are full of actions and expressions

Nobody can read it

Because it can't be written

It can only be felt

It can only be expressed 

Without words

It's best in action

And this is poetry

A living poetry

At home, everyday


Take me home

 

Please take me home

To the place where I belong

To the place of my sweetest memory

To the place where my love dwells unconditionally

To the place of my sanity

 

Please take me home

Where my children wait excitedly

Where my hand touches each of them magically

Where I'm the queen of this hierarchy

Where I can smile and be angry without hesitation

Where I can show my flaws and imperfections

 

Please take me home

Just take me home

For I know my loved ones are waiting

But I don't know who they are

I can't recognize the faces of my family

I can't button my shirt or count numbers

My home, I fail to remember

My name, I try to register

My mind falters

Though I try hard 

I can't remember a thing

 

I know in my heart there's something

The most important thing

And I only remember 

I need to be home

But I don't know where my home is

I don't know what home is

I still want to go home

So please take me home

 

Ang Bangka ng Aking Buhay (Tagalog)

Ang bangka ng buhay ko'y lalayag ng muli

Pabalik kung saan ang bahaghari

Na noon ay akala ko payak ang kulay

Kung kayat ninais lisanin at naglakbay

Sa pag-asang mga kulay ay titingkad

Kaginhawaan ang siyang hinangad

Nakita ko nga mga kulay na ginto at pilak

Nakakasilaw,nakakalulang galak

Pero bakit unti-unting naglalaho

Di ko man lng mahawakan ito ba'y balat kayo?

Di ko man lang maipon

Upang sa bangka ng buhay maibaon

Di ko man lng madama

Totoong kasiyahan dito sa ibang bansa

Kaya ang bangka ng buhay ko'y babalik sa kung saan nagmula

Kaligayahan ko'y naroon lamang pala

Ako pala ang kulay na nagpapasigla

Nang simpleng tahanan ng katulad kong dukha

Dukha kung tawagin dito sa ibang bansa

Ngunit sa munting tahanan ako po ay dakila

 

The boat of my life will sail again

The boat of my life will sail again

In due time, back to where the rainbow sets

Before, I thought it just consisted of plain colors

The reason why I wished to travel and leave

Was the hope of finding those sparkling colors

Convenience in life was what I sought

Indeed I saw gold and silver

Blinding and dizzying me with delight 

Yet I saw each color slowly disappearing

Before I could even touch them

Oh what a disguise!

I could not save

So that I could keep it in my boat of life

I could not feel

True happiness in this foreign land

So this boat of my life

Will sail back to where it all started

To my true happiness 

For I am the sparkled colors stirring

In the simple house of my plain people 

Lowly they may call me

In this foreign land

Yet in my simple home

Mighty is my hand

 

 

Translated into English by the author


  

Rolinda Onates Española is from Bacolod City, Philippines. She is co-editor of Call and Response: A Migrant/ Local Poetry Anthology (Math Paper Press). She spent six years working in Singapore as a foreign domestic worker, and is now back home in the Philippines. Her poems have won prizes at the Migrant Workers Poetry Competition, Singapore.

Mother of Waters, River of Nine Dragons

Two Poems by Shanta Acharya