Cultural Ingenuity Poem by MELVIN BANGGOLLAY

CULTURAL INGENUITY

mELVIN BANGGOLLAY

Gone are the days when we display
Shyness when we are part of minority
When we are called with ingenuity
as the brave peacocks of the north
wearing head gears in open court
with feathers swaying back and forth.

Today, our culture is our pride
We must show so proud with all stride
for its the essence of our own blood
that was never touched by tyrant’s mud
but with our nature to learn so fast
We can be at par with anyone at last.

let us be proud if we were born igorots
When we're reared with Kalinga’s roots
When we spoke the tongues of ibalois
when we have the tenure of ifugaos
When we sing the songs of cordilleran
and lived in every mountain’s grand.

Be proud of whatever your culture’s birth
for its the reason you are upon this earth
to speak and take pride of what you are
Instead of pretending on what you are not
for you can never become somebody’s race
if you’re born upon Cordillera’s breast.