Mangyari Lamang…

Bobby Gue­varra uses this poem as an open­ing open­ing prayer for his class in Lib­er­a­tion The­ol­ogy. He was my teacher in 4^th year col­lege and became a good friend after­wards. Napak­a­gan­dang tula. I did a rough trans­la­tion for my stu­dents in Cebu who had a hard time under­stand­ing Fil­ipino. The eng­lish is not as supe­rior as the fil­ipino, but we do try our best.

Mang­yari Lamang
Rico Belardo

Mang­yari lamang ay tumayo
ang mga nagma­hal
nang makita ng lahat
ang mukha ng pag– ibig
ipa­malas ang tamis
ng malalim na pagkakau­nawaan
sa mga mal­abo ang paningin

mang­yari lamang ay tumayo rin
ang mga nagma­hal at nasawi
nang makita ng lahat
ang mga sugat ng isang bayani
ipadama ang pait ng kabiguan
habang ipinag­bubunyi
ang walang kat­u­lad na kag­itin­gan
ng isang nagtaya

mang­yari lamang ay tumayo
ang mga nan­gangam­bang magma­hal
nang makita ng lahat
ang kilos ng isang bata
ipa­malas ang kat­a­p­atan ng damdamin
na pilit ikinukubli
ng pusong lumaki sa mga engkanto at diwata

mang­yari lamang ay tumayo
ang mga nagma­hal, mina­hal at ini­wan
ngu­nit handa pa ring magma­hal
nang makita ng lahat ang yaman ng karanasan
ipa­malas ang kato­to­hanang nasak­si­han
nang mag­ing makahu­lu­gan
ang mga pagh­ag­ul­gol sa dilm

at sa mga nana­natil­ing nakaupo
mang­yari lamang ay dahan– dahang tumalilis
papal­abas sa nakan­gan­gang pinto
umuwi na kayo
at sum­batan ang mga mag­u­lang
na nag­palaki ng isang halimaw

at sa lahat ng nai­wang nakatayo
mang­yari lamang ay hagkan ang isa’t isa
at yakapin ang mga sug­atan
mabuhay tay­ong lahat na nag­sisikap na mak­a­ba­lik
sa ating pinagmulan

man­atil­ing masaya
at higit sa lahat mag­pat­u­loy
sa pagmamahal

Please Stand
eric san­til­lan

please stand –
those who have loved –
so that every­one can see
your faces.
let them who have not expe­ri­enced
deep love with another
see you clearly.

please stand as well–
those of you who have loved and lost
so that every­one can see the wounds
of the brave.
and feel the bit­ter­ness of your pain
while pro­claim­ing the gal­lantry of
your commitments.

please stand
those who have been afraid to love
so that every­one can see
the child­ish­ness of your actions
as you tried to pre­vent the un-covering of passion.

please stand
those who have loved, have been loved, have been left behind—
but who still are ready to love again;
so that peo­ple will see the wealth of your expe­ri­ence…
and the truth you have wit­nessed
when you found mean­ing
as you cried your­self to sleep at night.

and to those who have remained seated
after all this–
please, dis­creetly leave this place.
go out that open door with­out dis­turb­ing us.
go home
and blame your par­ents
for rais­ing up mon­sters
who can­not love.

and to those who have remained stand­ing
please, kiss and embrace each other like broth­ers and sis­ters,
for that is what you are–
sib­lings of the wounded.
and may you be blessed-—
because you strive to go back to where you all began.

let us remain joy­ful
even as we are badly wounded and scarred.
and most of all
let us continue

to love.

(draft 4)