Sinubukan Niyang Magsulat ng Tula

Sinubukan Niyang Magsulat ng Tula

Sinubukan niyang magsulat ng tula
Kahit hanggang dibdib ang tubig ng lungkot,
Sa pag-aakalang huhupa ang baha.

Ang bawat pagberso’y nilikhang kandila
Nagtangka ang ningas dilim ay masakop;
Sinubukan niyang magsulat ng tula.

Inuntog ang ulo sa moog ng banta,
Ginhawa ang turing niya sa sabunot
Sa pag-aakalang huhupa ang baha.

Pagligo sa ulan, wala sa gunita,
Di na nagdaramdam pusong nahinog
Sinubukan niyang magsulat ng tula.

Bumagsak sa punda ang patak ng luha
Nagkumot ng lumot sa lahat ng sulok
Sa pag-aakalang huhupa ang baha.

Ibibilad bukas ang únang binasâ
Ng bagyong sa bahay nila’y nagpalubog;
Sinubukan niyang magsulat ng tula
Sa pag-aakalang huhupa ang baha.

Kabilang ang tulang ito sa antolohiyang “to let the light in” na proyekto ng Sing Lit Station at Asia Pacific Hospice Palliative Care Network.

They Tried to Write Poems*
Translated From Tagalog by Marne Kilates

He tried to write a poem
Even though the flood of sadness was up to his chest,
Thinking that would make it subside.

Every verse a candle created
That the flame may overcome the darkness;
She tried to write a poem.

She banged her head against the wall of threats,
Pulling her hair for relief
Thinking that would make the flood subside.

Playing in the rain made him forget
No more raw, the heart ripened
He tried to write a poem.

Tears fell on the pillow,
Making a bed of moss on every corner,
Thinking that would make the flood subside.

Tomorrow, the pillow will be laid out in the sun,
Drenched in the flood that inundated their house.
She tried to write a poem
Thinking that would make the flood subside.

*The Tagalog pronoun ‘siya’ or ‘niya’ is gender-neutral. So I used ‘they’ in the title and both ‘he’ and ‘she’ in the body to express the spirit of the pronoun rather than base it automatically on the gender of the writer. I also think it makes the poem more complex.