Kulop I

Uswag, dinhi la kita ha bungsaran pag-istorya kay may lamrag pa.
Oo, dida iton ha atubangan hira Mana Maring nag-ukoy.
Puro na kabagwakan. Hapilan han baya han mga panimalay.
Sobrahay na baynte anyos naman gud an naglabay han pagpundara
Niya tikang han iya pagminaistra. Kakarag la hit nga tuna.
Kay ano ka nanmimiling ha iya? Asya daw, alagid-agid im
Bayhon ha iya han waray pa kaguba han waray kurukarigo.
An suhag ka ngay-an niya? Oo, alakis kay han kinse anyos ak
Bilinbilin kamo ha ak. Ikaw an tres anyos, im maghod puya pa.
Amo adto nga panuig an iya bana, an im amay, bumaya.

Waray na ngay-an kamo kumita ha iya? Mangno patay na gihap
Hiya, it ak la ampo, nangaro hiya ha iya kalugaringon
Hin mga pasaylo han iya damo nga pagsayop kan Mana Maring.
Pastilan, it na iyo amay, han kapinaura han iyo iroy.
Gintagan hin liawan, gutiay nga tindahanay ha merkado.
Hin kamalabad! gin-kerida an disiotso anyos nga kabulig
Ngan lumaspay hira dara kan im nanay hiniposhipos nga mga
Alahas! Siring niya, “Para gud inin hira hit ak mga anak.”

Oday, im nanay lumagapak ha tuna han pakahibaro niya.
Kamagutaw-i, naningkamot hiya panimangno ha iyo ngan han
Pagmaistra. Ugaring, naturnawo hiya.  Waray na pakasulod
Ha iskwelahan. Han ginkuha kamo han kag-anak han iyo amay
Lumagapak na liwat hiya didto ha tuna han iyo bungsaran.
Hadto manggud, pagpukrat han mata, waray na gud hiya mangilala.
Yakan ak Nanay Bising, “Adto hi Maria lumakat may bitbit nga
Asul nga bag.” Tikang gud man hadto, waray na hiya humiling ngan
Umuli ngada ha atubangan. Kun iginkatarapo ha dalan
Bisan pag-asi waray. Nahisabtan ko, didto hiya nakaturog
Ha kamposanto kay mahimyang daw. Nakakaon la adto hiya kun
Di ginbubusyo hi Mana Salbing nga paragputo didto ha Candao.
Danay manggud ni Mana Maring igintakyab iya mga paninda.
Pamilya? Waray hiya iba na pamilya kay ilo adto hiya.

Nakapahuway ha kadayunan hi iyo nanay kaligis niya.
Waray hiya nadara ha ospital kay napurtahan dayon hiya.
An mga taga-Highway an nag-areglar ha iya lubong ngan waray
Lamay. Nakasabot nala kami pagkinabuwasan. Hinin una
La adto nga tuig. Seguro naharap na kay mga singkwenta na
Adto iya edad, waray kumita han dako pa-Maasin nga bus.
Ta anuman, masulod na ak kay baga masirom na. Sige hinay
Nala haim paglakat. Ay anay, hapit na ak mahangalimot,
An asul daw nga bag ni iyo nanay adto kan Mana Salbing anak.
Waray kaano, gin-abrihan nira. Puno hin kodak. Puros kanan bata.

On Monday Mornings

In my slumber I felt you releasing
me from your all night long tight embrace;
I knew it was 4 o’ clock in the wee Monday
morning. Half awake I inhaled your coffee
brewing and pictured you pouring it in your
mug followed by half a spoon of sugar.

I heard you coming in; I feigned sleep.
You caressed my forehead and whispered,
“I have to go now. I can’t be late.”
I took your hand to my lips and you
burrowed into my nape. As always,
even with wanting more said,
I just mumbled, “Take care.”

When the door’s lock clicked,
I knew it was 5 o’ clock in the wee Monday
morning. I turned around because my back
has turned cold. I tried to capture in haste
with my cold hand the warmth of
the other side of the bed,
alas, it was colder.

Jeepney Everyday (Version 2)

I take a jeepney ride in going to work and coming home; and, I pay P9.00 each time. I take a jeepney ride when I go to parties or gathering with friends, meetings with colleagues, and utility companies to settle the bills; and, I pay at least P7.50. A jeepney ride may be the cheapest mode of transportation for any Taclobanon but it houses treasures of philosophical interplays and reprieves between destinations shared amongst strangers and sometimes familiar faces who at the point of convergence inside a jeepney are acquaintances by chance and necessity.

Each passenger pays his or fare without being prompted by the driver; and, the driver stops at the nearest destination advantageous to the passengers. There are times when the driver overcharges the passenger and immediately it is settled by a swift, "Mano, tikang la ako may Coca-Cola," and the former giving back to the latter the extra peso or fifty centavos. There are cases too when the driver returns extra centavos or a peso and the passenger without much ado gives them back to him and saying, "Mano, sobra im sukli." Between them come the other passengers who serve as carriers of the extra or lacking change and at the same time mediators; they side either with the driver or the concerned passenger without any bias at all and just have fair fare as their guide.

Nobody is disallowed to take the ride because of civil status, sexual orientation, color, economic status, body mass, fashion taste or whatever superficial standards. Nobody is given preference in terms of seat space; everyone is expected to pay the amount equitable to the space occupied. In fact there are even cases when the driver exercises pro bono when someone does not have enough fare or when someone gets off because he left something- all these decisions made in quick seconds. There are instances when the driver keeps on taking in more passengers in order to reach the quota seating capacity even when there is no space anymore but this is immediately rectified by simply saying, “Mano, puno na.” When there are passengers who knock on the roof to signal that they want to get off even if the next stop is a just a few meters away, the driver would say, “Unhan la kay bawal didi.”

The driver exercises expert discernment whether to take passenger in or not and the same with the passenger too as to whether to take the offered ride or not. When a passenger says, "Mano, may St. Paul's ako," the driver would say "Maliko ngadto LNU," and right there on the passenger decides whether to take or not the jeepney ride. Even when the driver fails to refuel before he started his route resulting to a stop or two at gasoline stations passengers do not complain; and, when a passenger wears a strong perfume that causes nasal congestion the other passengers do not breathe a word of irritation at all.

Inside the jeepney, everyone looks at each other without seeing each other. The jeepney is filled with silent individual thoughts. The thoughts are either at rest or occupied by the minute details of daily routines, fantasies, and even dreams of life ahead. In a jeepney, a working woman with her children hurrying for school and work is in equal state of suspension from all her points of departure and destination as much as a man who is going home from his night job as a security officer. There is that shared lull of peace where everything about life seems to stand still. The driver ensures that this is sustained by barring those who might wreck it such as a drunk or unruly prospective passenger by simply saying, "Pasensya mano."