kinaraya
Renowl
by: Kristine Sanchez
"Kinaray-a" or hinaraya is derived from "iraya" meaning "upstream," "ka"
meaning "companion," with infixation "in" meaning "to have undergone
something." It refers to the language of Antique (from "Hamtik," or large, red
ant or wasp) and the upland parts of Iloilo and Capiz. Kinaray-a, says the
writer Leoncio Deriada, is the "mother of mellifluous West Visayan lingua
franca, Hiligaynon (Ilongo), and the less well-known child, Aklanon." He adds
that Kinaray-a "is the Ilongo contribution to the mixed languages of Romblon,
Palawan, and Cuyo Islands, some parts of Mindoro and Masbate and the southern
towns of Negros Occidental and Oriental." Kinaray-a speakers outnumber Ilongo
speakers in Antique, most of Capiz, all of the central Iloilo towns, and the
coastal towns south of Iloilo City; Ilongo is mainly limited to Iloilo City and
all the coastal towns to the north as well as in Bacolod and most of Negros
Occidental (Ani 19:11).
Ilongo has long enjoyed primacy in the region because it is the language spoken
by the ruling classes in the region, namely the hacenderos on both shores of
the guimaras Strait and the Chinese compradores from the Molo Parian, while
Kinaray-a has long been identified as "the language og the sacada and the
muchacho" (Ani 19:12). The Spanish priests added to the development of Ilongo
by publishing grammars and catechisms in that language, while producing none in
Kinaray-a.
Despite having a disparate vocabulary, with usage differing slightly from town
to town (for example, the English "here" could be rigya, rugya, digya, di-a,
depending on the location), Kinaray-a speakers understand one another whether
they come from Antique, Capiz, or Iloilo. Apart from the population of
Antique, which was 419,000 in 1990, the populations of Iloilo towns west,
north, and northeast of the towns of Tigbauan, Santa Barbara, Pototan, anilao,
and Dingle inclusive, and the towns of Tapaz and Jamindan in Capiz, all speak
Kinaray-a. All in all, there may be around 1,000,000 Kinaray-a speakers.
History
According to the tales of the Maragtas, Antique once enjoyed primacy among the
realms carved out in Panay by the 10 Bornean datu (chieftains), who, fleeing
from the tyranny of Sultan Makatunaw of Borneo, bought the island from the Ati
King Marikudo and established the sakup of Hamtik, Aklan, and Irong-irong. The
datu supposedly landed in Malandog, Hamtik, where a marker commemorates the
event which is reenacted in the Binarayan (literally, "place where the boats
landed") Festival. In Hamtik ruled the wisest among the chieftains, Datu
Sumakwel, whom Datu Puti designated as the primus inter pares among the seven
remaining datu who formed the confederation of the Madya-as.
In Spanish times, Antique was adminished from iloilo, and remained a backwater
of the colony. When Miguel Lopez de Legazpi transferred his headquarters from
Cebu to
Panay, his men came upon the village of Bugasong and Hamtik. Encomiendas were
established in Pandan and Hamtik in the 1570s.By 1581, the Augustinians set up
a mission in Hamtik, establishing the first parish in Antique. This was
followed by Barbaza, 1596, San Jose de Buenavista, 1733, Bugasong, 1742, San
Pedro, 1744, Sibalom, 1745, Pandan, 1752, Patnongon, 1761, Dao,1771, and
Culasi, 1773. In the 1660s,Antique belonged to Ogtong, one of the two provinces
carved out from the island, the other being Panay. In 1793 Antique became a
separate province.
The Antiquenos did not welcome the Spanish rule. The natives, called mundo and
cascado, refused to live in the cabeceras or town centers, a problem that
occasional Muslim raids along coastal towns did not help relieve. In 1828,
secular priests participated in serious revolt launched againsts the alcalde
mayor, Don Francisco
Oreta, which ended when he was replaced by Don Benito Domingo. In 1888, the
Igbaong, secrest organization in San Remingo led by Gregoria Palmero revolded
againsts abuses by Spanish officials and Augustinian clergy. It was pacified
only seven years later.
When the revolutionary movement was launched, Panay became an active area for
katipunan recruitment. On 21 Sept 1898, Gen Leonardo Fullon landed in
Inayawan, Pandan and captured the town, holdingthe parish priest captives. The
following day, Fullon and his army landed in Culasi, forcing the Spaniards to
withdraw Tibiao. The Filipino soldiers under spanish command muntinied and
placed themselves under the command Fullon. A week later, the forces of Fullon
clashed with spanish troops in Bugasong in a battle that momentarily stopped
Fullon's succesful southern campaign. Fullon retreated to Culasi. Spanish
success was short-lived, however, as another filipino no mutiny decimated the
spanish officers. By 23 November that year, Filipino revolutionaries had taken
San Jose de Buenavista. Fullon then beacame Antique governor.
During the Philippine-American War, the Americans did not land a force in
Hamtik, until January 1900. Not long after the revolutionary forces under
Fullon were forced to shift to guerilla warfare. Fullon held out until 22 Mar
1901, when he surrendered to the Americans. In April the civil government was
established and Fullon was elected governor. A lasting legacy of the revolution
to Antique is Iglesia Filipina Independente, which was founded by Gregorio
Aglipay, Gen Emilio Aguinaldo's Military Vicar General, and labor leader
Isabelo de los Reyes. Next to Ilocos, Antique has the greatest number of
Aglipayans.
In 1939, in anticipation of the Japanese invasion, Antique became mobilization
center. WWII saw an active anti-Japanes guerillacampaign led by Col Macario
Perlta and other officers of the 61st infantry Division of the USAFFE ( United
States Armed Forces in the Far East). The firstsubmarine-borne supplies to the
6th Military District (as Gen Douglas McArthur designated the Panay-Negros
area) were landed in Libertad, then a barrio of Pandan. Guerillas operated
rather freely in Antique, as their mountain bases in Mts Baloy and Madya-as
were located on the border of the Iloilo and Capiz. Moreover, the Japanese
were garrisoned for most of the time in the capital of San Jose.
The Japanese would occasionally sortie north to pursue guerilla forces in
actions that the people would call as "penetretion" and associated
with"evacuation". The guerilla warning system worked effectively in evacuating
the people from the town centers whenever Japanese columns would venture out of
San Jose, such that the majority of the people Antique could say that they
never saw a Japanese soldier during the entire war. Looming large in the public
imagination were the horrors, not so much of Japanes atrocities as of the
guerilla killing fields called Badyang, a place where suspected collaborators
were executed. Stay-over public officials and traders were most vulnerable to
charges of collaboration.
In general, Antique has kept a low profile in national affairs. Its
mountanious terrain, lined by a narrow coastal plain, as well as its lack of
good roads, ports, and other transportation and communication facilities have
prevented Antique from raising its standard of livingdespite being a net
surplus producer of rice, sugar, and other agricultural crops. Antiquenos also
partly attribute the lack of development to politics, especially as they tend
to support the opposition. For instance, in pre-marital law days, when the
president was Nacionalista, the Antique governor was Liberal.
During the Snap Elections of 1896, the pro Corazon Aquino led by former Gov
Evelio Javier conducted a succesful campaign against entrenched pro Marcos
forces led by Assemblyman Arturo Pacificador, but after the elections, the
charismatic Javier was gunned down in broad daylight in San Jose. The
assasination intensified the tension that culminated in the EDSA revolt 11 days
later.
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Religious Beliefs and Practices
The spiritual world of the Antiquenos is inhabited by numerous engkantu,
fairies, and other supernatural spirits. They are encountered at the
headwaters of junctions, shallow wells, isolated places, enchanted trees,
thickets, and lonely trails at high noon or late evening (Magos 1978:58). The
province of Antique itself has been identified as a plpace of the aswang, the
generic term for a creature of the netherworld which takes human form during
the day and transforms into viscera-sucking, flesh-eating ghouls, polymorphing
creatures, or witchcraft practitioners during the night. There are dwellers or
residents in the towns or barrios who may also be aswang or maranhig. The
aswang has a double, according to belief, and so can appear or change form
easily. The maranhig, on the other hand, cannot cross a stream, otherwise he
turns into a worm. These spirits and supernaturals are the cause of people's
illness and many of the evils that befall them.
The maaram or medicine man counters or neutralizes these creatures. In places
where there are no doctors, the maaram becomes a general practitioner as well
as specialist - a medium or rite officiator, diviner, herbalist, bone setter,
midwife, and extractor of foreign objects poaced by supernatural forces or
beings inside the body of the individual (Magos 1978).
Being an isolated province, Antique is a culture area where the connection of
traditional magical practices can be studied in relation to economic survival
(Magos 1978:25). Each stage of the rice production, from planting to
harvesting, is punctuated by ritual; the same holds true for the production of
corn, cassava, sweet potato, beans, kadios, jackfruit, coconut, and so on. The
presence of a menstruating woman or an animal urinating before or during
planting are considered bad omens; planting should be done during low tide, or
during the time when the moon is full, so that the fruits or tubers will grow
large; and so on.
The Sulod believe in a double or soul-spirit who removes itself from the carnal
body upon death and travels from one place to another until it reaches a lake
which it has to cross with the assistance of Bangle, the ferry man. According
to this myth, Bangle asks the soul-spirit several questions before he takes it
to the other shore. If the soul answers that it has had more than one wife, it
is congratulated and immediately carried across on Bangle's shoulder. If it
has had only one or remained a bachelor, then it is told to hold on to Bangle's
pubic hair and to swim across the sticky water. (As there are no recorded
cases of polyandry, it cannot be assumed that the same questions apply to the
female soul.)
The soul has yet to pass another stream guarded by another deity called Balugu,
who asks him the same questions. After passing the examination, the soul is
admitted to Madya-as (a mountain nearby), where it participates in a
cockfighting game. Then it is taken to the rest house called haramyangan. If
its relatives in th earthworld perform the right ceremonies, it undergoes a
strengthening process, after which it takes its place in the center of
Madya-as, where it leads a normal life and eventually turns into one of the
environmental spirits which guard every aspect of Sulod society.
Sulod religion is inextricably intertwined with social and economic activities
like fishing and hunting, which are influenced by defined environmental and
ancestral spirits. All phases of the agricultural practice, like preclearing,
begin with an invocation to the ancestral spirits. The sagda ceremony, for
example, is a postclearing chanting ritual as a gesture of apology to the
spirits who may have been hurt by the burning of the field during the clearing
process.
It is believed that illness is caused by forest spirits who must, therefore, be
appeased. A procession is led by the baylan who dances to the beat of gongs
and drums to invoke good and evil spirits
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Visual Arts and Crafts
Several towns in Antique have the distinction of producing quality ware ranging
from salakot and sawali from Belison, bamboocraft from San Jose, ceramics from
Sibalom, pottery from Bandoja, Tibiao; mats from Pandan and Libertad; and
loom-woven patadyong (barrel skirt) from Bagtason, Bugasong, the only one of
its kind in the Visayas and well-known throughout Panay.
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Performing Arts
Puedan was able to collect 92 folk songs, nine of which are ballads.
"Juanita," "Sa Baryo Sang Burok-Burok" (In the Barrio of Burok-Burok), and
"Esing" deal with love's frustrations and tragedies; "Composo ni Dieme"
(Compose of Dimme), "Sa Baryo Sang Gamad" (In the Barrio of Gamad), and "Sa
Banwang Culasi" (In the Town of Culasi) take off from the senseless deaths of
certain persons; and "O Mga Senyores" (O Dear Sirs), "Kanta Sang Pagsulod sang
Hapon" (Songs About the Arrival of the Japanese), and "Composo Guikan sa
Guerra" (Composo from the War) recount experiences during WWII. With the
exception of the last two songs, the Antique ballads cluster around a single
event. The stories are told dramatically, using dialogue for emotional impact.
Children's songs range from the ili (lullaby) to adaptations of Tagalog and
English originals. Greed is parodied in "Tatay Beroy Tikwaog," spinsters are
satirized in "Nagtanum Ako Pinya" (I Planted a Pineapple). Mothers ask their
children to perform "Ang Tatlo Ka Pato" (The Three Ducks), complete with hand
gestures imitating ducks flying and rear ends waddling. "Lubi-lubi" (Coconuts)
is a mnemonic device to remember the months of the year. "Ang Tilapia" (The
Tilapia) tells of an impetuous fish who escapes from the aquarium.
Love and courtship songs are still sung as serenade, which are prevalent during
harvesttime when girls from out of town help their kin in the fields.
While Modern swains have been heard to strum pop and old tunes like "Serapin
Sang Gugma" (Angel of Love), "Pagkalum-ok" (Softly), "Ako Ining Kailo" ( I Am a
Poor Lover), "Bilin Sang Kabuhi" (My Life's Desire), "Didto Nayon sa Bukid"
(There in the Mountain) are still heard. The most popular of these are "Sa
Pugad Sang Pispis" (In the Bird's Nest), "Karom kay Tingadlaw" (Now That It's
Summer), and "Maghihirupay Kita" (Let's Share Our Love). The latter invites the
beloved to share the lover's affection, so that they could be like two birds on
a bough.
"Sang Diutay pa Ako" (When I Was Small) is about a maiden, being courted, who
sets impossible conditions for her love. Another rejection song is "Igso-on sa
Tabuk Nayon" (Godbrother Across Our House). "Ang Gugma" (Love) advises ladies
to choose their husbands carefully, while "Dalawidaw" (The DalawidawBird) has a
happy ending, with the girl reciprocating her suitor's love.
Songs that have been adapted in other Visayan tongues include: "Lumabay-labay"
(If Passes By), which compares the sweet things in life, like love, to smoke
which dissipates: "Dandansoy," which was composed by roman who hailed from
Culasi; and "Ay Ay Kalisud" (O How Sad). The latter two are standard numbers
in the repertoire of Visayan singers, and are well-known nationally.
Other love songs, which invariably speak of lost love and hearthache, include:
"Maminglaw nga Dalamguhon" (A Lonely Dream); "Mahapdi ang Dug-han Ko" (My Heart
Aches); "Pispis nga Adarna" (The Adarna Bird); "Ang Pana-ad" (The Promise);
"Rosing, Yanang Yuhom Mo" (Your Smile), "Nadura ang Paglaum" (Hope is Lost);
"Ginamingaw Ako" (I Feel Lonely); and "Nene Ati."
Work songs include: fishing songs like "Si Tarok, Ang Belong-belong" (The
Belong-belong Fish); "Ang mga Manunura nga Ansyang" (The Ansyano Fisherfolks),
and "Si Felimon." The latter two, and the nonfishing song, "Ako Mananggete nga
si Ikot" (I Am Ikot the tuba gatherer), have references to tuba, indicating
that they are generally sung during drinking sessions. "Si Filemon" os a
tongue twister because the song is repeated over and over, with the various
vowels converted to the one called out by the song leader: "A!" - "Sa Falaman,
Sa Falaman ..."; "U!" - "Su Fulumun, Su Fulumun;" and so on.
When drinking, the old favorite is "Dandansoy, Inum Tuba Laboy" (Dandansoy,
Drink Laloy's Tuba). But the work songs and humorous songs do equally well:
"Nagligad and Adlaw" (A Day Has Passed), "Bisan Tamun Ati" (Though We Are
Aetas), "Sa Banwa sang Kape" (In the Town of Coffee), "Kalantahon sa
Adlaw-adlaw" (The Everyday Song), "Puyayang" (Jelly Fish), "Tahur" (Gambler),
"Si Manong, si Manang, Ako ang Prinsipe" (I Am the President, "Manok nga Bukay"
(My White Rooster). The first four songs use metaphors for sexual organs and
intercourse.
Three polgnant songs express grief over the death of parents: "Binhi sang
Paghihugma" (Seeds of Love), "Ang Ilo sa Iloy" (A Motherless Child); and "Ako
ang Nailo" (I Am An Orphan). These are sung furing funerals. There are also
songs that praise knowledge and winged creatures, and game songs.
Two wedding songs, "inday, Himus-himusa" (Inday, Prepare Your Things) and
"Laylay" have similar patterns. There are instructions to the woman to prepare
her things as shw is getting married, and to the men against maltreatment of
the wife lest the relatives take her back; the eventual reply is that the woman
can no longer be separated from the man because they have been married by a
priest.
Weddings showcase the Antiqueno's dancing prowess. During their pamalaye, the
parents of the groom in Anini-y town perform the soryano before the parnets of
the bride. The soryano has two counts to a measure, and is danced to guitar
music.
The wedding procession is marked by sinurog dancers up front, shouting and
making considerable noise with drums, empty cans, basins, and other percussion
instruments. The dancers, all boys, having fierce masks of black and red.
They wear red trousers , dark colored under shirts with long sleeves, red bands
or kercheifs around their heads, and a dark-colored length of cloth worn over
the shoulder and knotted at one side of the waist. Some sinurog dancers wield
spears, bolo, and daggers. The dancers are believed to frighten and drive away
evil spirits that might spoil the happiness and welfare of the newly married
couple.
During the reception, the bride and groom may dance the padang-padang, the
music of which has three counts to a measure. The partners shake and clap
hands, bow to each other, and move in a sway-balance-hop sequence. Ideally only
the married couple dances while the guest shower them with presents of cash and
valuables, but the members of the entourage may also take part (Reyes-Tolentino
1946:203-206).
In response to the pandang-pandang, the parents of the bride and groom perform
the kandang-kandang. The dance, which is named after a seaside plant, uses a
tune similar to the pandang-pandang. It also has three counts to a measure, but
has more steps which is characterized by reversed arm positions, step-hops, and
flirtatious brushes punctauted by beginning motions from the boy and point
steps, leaps, and occasional kneels.
The urukay from Anini-y also has the parents-in-law dancing each other. This is
lively and vigorous dance where the male tries to assert his supremacy over the
female by making her kneel and crawl in between his legs. The woman retorts by
snubbing the man and elbowing him as she moves away.
Other Dances found in Antique include a number of waltz derivatives, such as
the escopiton malandog, from Barangay Malandog in Hamtik, which is danced by
couples and feature kumintang movements; the regoniza, also found in San Jose,
which is dance for important guest; the yano pandaninio, a delicate dance from
the northern town of pandan; and the salidsid, a dance for fiestas and other
special occasions, produced by the people of the island town of Caluya. The
salidsid is vigorius, using body twist, trunk jerks, knee bends, and tapping
steps, among others.
The kuratsa, a perennial Visayan favorite, has two versions, the kuratsa San
Jose and the kuratsa Tibiao with the latter having more complex steps. The
haplili is a stylization of the dance step of that name. The count is two to a
measure, with two pairs performing. The girl's main prop in her movements is
her patadyong. The virgoire, which is derive from "Virgo-Eres" (You are a
Virgin) is like a kumintang dnce but is performed barefoot by a girl wearing
patadyong and camisa or long-sleeved blouse with stiff sleeves. The Antique
version of the itik-itik os performed in Tibian invariably during social
gatherings. Dancing two counts to the measure, the couples are in closed
ballroom dnce position chracterized by slide-close and itik-itik steps, topped
by a quarter turn at the end of each sequence.
Nuptial ceremonies among the Sulod are repleted with prototypes of theater,
literature, song, and dance. The pagbati is the ceremonial meeting of the two
sets of parents, who pretenc ignorance of the couple's engagement, so that they
may formally confirm it. The marriage negotiations are conducted in the form
of a poetical joust, in which the girl's family again pretends ignorance of the
boy's intentions. Part of the joust includes the haggling over dowry. This
accomplished and the boy duly accepted, the boy sevice to the girl's family
begins. He brings to ther house symbolic objects, such as banana leaves, which
signify the virtue of "righteousness giving shade and protection to the couple
in their life's journey" (Jocano 1968).
The wedding day begins with the hungaw, another poetical joust between two
spokepersons. This is recited as the wedding entourage takes some numbered
steps from the gate to the stairs of the house. After the wedding, the feast
begins but is regularly interrupted by another poetical joust, in which the
bride is referred to metaphorically as the "flower of the house." For such
occasions, heirloom plates called lahang and the sibulan, the ancient chinese
jar in which rice wine is fermented, are taken out of storage and used.
Antique theater has depended largely on traveling komedya troupes from Iloilo
which perform during town fiestas. There have been no recorded writers of
Kinaray-a komedya or sarswela.
The advent of electronics, however, has opened up venues for writers, enabling
them to rpoduce radio dramas. Foremost of these Kinaray-a writers is the late
Russell tordesillas, who wrote the scripts for the long running radio serial
Olayra: Ang Prinsesa Sang Dagat played over Antique radio DYKA.
Writers are gradually responding to the renewed literary and institutional
interest over the prootion of Kinaray-a. Aleks Santos (Ani 19) published Lupa,
a one-act play detailing the hardships of women left to tend their farm after
the menfolk went to work as sacada in Negros. D. Javier with R.C. Lucero and
E.A. Manuel
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References
Ani 19, Vol V, No 3 (Dec 1991).
Ani 10, Vol III, No 2 (Jun 1989)
Baldama, Eugeniio. "The Monteses of Panay." Philippine Magazine. Vol XXXV, No 1
(357), (Jan 1938), 24-25, 50; No 2 (358) (Feb 1938), 95-97, 107; No 3 (359),
(Mar 1938), 138, 149-150; No 5 (361), (May 1938), 236-242; No 6 (362), (Jun
1938), 286-287; No 9 (365), (Sept 1938), 424-425, 487-490; No 10, (Oct 1938),
468-469, 487-490.
Beyer, Henry Otley. "Outline Review of Philippine Archaeology by Islands and
Provinces." Philippine Journal of Science. Vol LXXVII, Nos 3-4, (Jul-Aug 1947),
205-374.
Cano, Gaspar. Catalogo de los religiosos de N.P.S. Agustin de la provincia del
Smo. Nombre de Jesus Filipinas, desde su establecimiento en estas Islas hasta
nuestros dias. Manila: Ramirez y Giraudier, 1864.
Dignadice, Fe Java. "A Critical Study of Folklore in the Western Visayas."
Master of arts thesis, siliman University, 1955.
Fajardo, Libertad V. Visayan Folk Dances. Vol I. 1966.
________________ Visayan Folk Dances. Vol II. 1974.
________________ Visayan Folk Dances. Vol III. 1975.
Galende, pedro G. Angels in Stone. Manila:G.A. Formoso Publications, 1987.
Jocano, F. Landa. The Epic of Labaw Donggon. Quezon City: University of the
Philippines Press, 1965.
_____________. Sulod Society, A Study in the Kinship and Social Organization.
Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press, 1968.
Manuel, E. Arsenio. Philippine Folklore Bibliography: A Preliminary Survey.
Quezon City: Philippine Folklore Society, 1965.
Monteclaro, Pedro. Maragtas. Iloilo: El Tiempo, 1907.
Magos, Alicia P. "The Ma-aram in a Kiniray-a Society." Master of arts thesis.
University of the Philippines, 1978.
Puedan, Al A. "The Folk Literature of Antique." Master of arts thesis,
University of the Philippines, Diliman, 1978.
Regional Map of the Philippines - VI. Manila: Edmundo R. Abigan Jr., 1988.
Report of the United States Philippine Commission to the Secretary of War.
Washington DC: Government Printing Office, 1901.
Reyes-Aquino, Francisca. Philippine Folk Dances. Vols I-VI. Manila: Francisca
Reyes-Aquino.
___________________. Philippine National Dances. New York: Silver Burdett Co,
1946.
Scott, William Henry. Prehispanic Source Materials for the Study of Philippine
History, Quezon City: New Day Publishers, 1984.
Wilcox, Marrion (ed). Harper's History of War in the Philippines. New York:
Harper & Brothers Publication, 1900.
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Dalubwika
>Kinaray-a, says the
>writer Leoncio Deriada, is the "mother of mellifluous West Visayan lingua
>franca, Hiligaynon (Ilongo),
Very interesting this language, Kinaray-a is..
They have two sets of pronouns.
For examples, we can say NAGLUTO KA... In Kinaray-a, you can either say
NAGRAHA KAW or NAGRAHA TIMO. From my understanding, you use the KAW-series at
first then the TIMO-series pronouns after the conversation has taken course..
Also found in Aklanon.
ako - taken
ikaw / kaw - timo
tana (they don't use SIYA)
kita - naten
kami - tamen
kamo - tinyo
sanda - tanda
(Note: I use E to represent the schwa vowel in Kinaray-a)
--Chris
pong
in Kinaray-a
Ang Pagsulat Bayi
ni Mila G. Lachica
Ang pagsulat bayi nga hamtung
sa panghuna-huna, sa panglawasun
nagapili kang binhi nga timgas;
Ang pagsulat bayi nga nagabusong
indi mapaktan ang baratyagun
'galingin ang ulo, wara't gana magkaun;
Ang pagsulat bayi nga nagabata
tuman ang kasakit, tuman ang kakulba
tuman ang kalipay pagguwa ka lapsag;
Ang pagsulat matres ka bayi
nagaluha ka dugo
kon wara it mahuman.
---
Writing is Woman
by Mila G. Lachica
Writing is woman ripe
in thought, in body
picking the choicest seed;
Writing is pregnant woman
unpredictable moods
dizzy spells, no taste for food;
Writing is woman giving birth
too much pain and anxiety
boundless joy when the baby is out
Writing is woman's womb
shedding tears of blood
when it cannot conceive.
---
"Ang Pagsulat Bayi" was included in "The Rise of Kinaray-a: History and
Anthology of Contemporary Literature in Antique" (edited by Alex C. De los
Santos & published by the University of San Agustin's Libro Agustino, Iloilo
City 2003).
* In the island of Panay, Hiligaynon may be known as the official language
or the lingua franca since it is spoken by the Ilonggos in Iloilo City but
as one leaves the city going to the province of Antique, the tongue shifts
to Kinaray-a . Believed to be as ancient as the legend of the ten datus,
Kinaray-a traces its roots to Datu Sumakwel who first settled in this part
of the island. Today, Kinaray-a still lives on in the heart, in the tongue
as well as on paper.
© Mila G. Lachica
"Dalubwika" <dalu...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20040407100607...@mb-m24.aol.com...
