MARIA, THE MANANANGGAL

My name is Maria
and I am a manananggal
My father is a kapri
king of Mount Diwalwal
Each night I go to the disco
with my friend, the white lady
I like to go shopping
with the clogs-wearing-swine
And together, we dive in the ukay-ukay.

There is something I want to tell you
About my suitor, Leo Santilmo
Who turns red, orange and blue
when I don't tell him
where I hide myself.

While I listen to the story
and fly through the sky
with my Nanny.

MARIA VICTORIA BELTRAN

*
Manananggal- Philippine witch, she can divide her body into two; the upper half has wings while the lower half is left behind.
Kapri- A giant, hairy man, usually perched on the Balete tree, who is always smoking a tobacco
White lady- a lady in a flowing white gown who prowls at night
Ukay-ukay- old clothes sent to Philippines as donation but ends up in makeshift stalls and are sold very cheap.
Santilmo- a man made of fire, who has a habit of standing in the midle of the road at night.
clogs-wearing swine- anay nga nagbakya, this animal eats children who are still out at night.

YELLOW BAMBOO

Nineteen hundred and eighty six

when you planted the bamboo.

Our learned neighbor said-

it will not grow

that little branch,

it does not fit here

it will come to naught

since our soil is sand

and our water is salty.

The plant will surely die

for in the whole of Olango Island

nobody can make it sprout.

I guess, perhaps-

you were hard headed

or you were in love

with the sway of the bamboo

everytime Amihan blows

and the bird sings.

One night, it was full moon

when you planted

that little branch.

You gave her water

that is not salty, but fresh.

You nurtured her,

you gave everything

to the yellow bamboo

and not long after

The leaves appeared,

the plant prospered

and danced to the tune

of the Habagat

and to the whisper

of this heart

that you left behind.

*Amihan- Northeast Moonsoon
*Habagat- Southwest Moonsoon
Poem is translated from Cebuano "Dalag ang Kawayan"

Early in the Morning

The uneasy butterfly sleepwalks
The sun peeps behind the clouds
The sleeping Jasmine awakes
The hiding root emerges
The Anahaw* leaf dances
The stepping stones do not move
The moss in the garden laughs
The Tamsi* perches on the branch
The wily earthworm comes out
The shy Mimosa* opens up
The cold wind blows
in my face. He stirs
this soul that just
a couple of hours before,
dreamt of this all.

*Anahaw- Philipinne national leaf.
*Tamsi- a small bird found everywhere in the Philippines.
*Mimosa- plant whose leaf closes when touched by wind or hand.
Poem is translated from Cebuano " Sayo sa Kabuntagon*

IN SEARCH OF THE LAST ROMANTIC

While I read your poem
It suddenly came to me. To think
of the man who went away.


He who gave up the last
seat. He who clung
to the trisikad* just to
give my butt a space.

He who sent the letter
with the sweet tounge. Who plucked
the stars and the flowers of
Kangkong* and offered them to me.

He who did not call me
a whore. Reminisced
why i have become
a vendor of my
abused rice cake.

(Where is he?
because this heart
long stained. This heart needs
a savior against the cruel time.)

*trisikad is a Philippine public vehicle that is a contraption of a bicycle and a side car usually seen in the countryside, carrying 5 or more passengers, literally hanging on it.
*kangkong is a cheap Philippine vegetable with a white flower that does not last long in a flower vase; Philippine water spinach.

The painting "Faces of Maria" is by the author