When The Poetry Becomes A Poet's Concern Poem by George Tumaob Calaor

(Filipino translation below)

When the world is violently coated with greed
and words are silenced with terror whipped by the fascist…

When kings and leaders govern their nations in the whims of corruption
at the expense of their people they have inhumanely and forcibly
made to endure unnecessary sacrifices and sufferings…

for whom should a poet write his creative thoughts for?
will ignorance be a metaphor of strangeness
to what ought and not ought to be?
will metaphor of romance be a lure of being passive
that disconnects to what is real and reality?
what then the worth of artistry will the poet have
if thoughts in the piece are drops of ink spilled to arc the strokes
and angled in the frames of a metaphorical insensitivity?

What deserves a poet if poetry cannot arouse critical minds,
cannot group circles of thinkers and fuel the movements of beings?

For what then and for whom do we write for?

When the world is violently coated with greed
and words are silenced with terror whipped by the fascist…

and when kings and leaders govern their nations in the whims of corruption
at the expense of their people they have inhumanely and forcibly
made to endure unnecessary sacrifices and sufferings? !


Kapag tulay naging pakay ng isang manunula

Kung mundo'y balot sa dahas ng pagkaganid
at kataga'y metaporya ng kaisipang inalipin ng takot
at bibig ay binusalan sa lagim ng kulturang hinasik ng mga pasista…

kung ang mga hari at mga numununo, bansa ay ginawang pugad
at lipunan ng kanilang kaprityusong pagnanakaw at sambayanan ay
sapilitang itinulak sa kawalang saysay na sakripisyo at pighati…

papano mo isusulat ang talinhaga ng iyong diwa makata?
para kanino ang nilaro mong metaporya ng iyong kataga?
makabuluhan bang ang mga letra ng iyong kamalayan
ay ungol ng romansang manhid sa panaghoy
at sigwa ng digma ng iyong lipunan?

Para ano pang ikaw ay nagging makata?

Kung ang iyong ay hindi makapag-udyok ng kritikal ng pag-iisip,
walang kurdon ng mithiing makapagkulumpon ng sangkatauhan
at alab na himagsikang makatarungan?

Para saan at para kanino bakit ka tumutula?

Kung mundo'y balot sa dahas ng pagkaganid
at kataga'y metaporya ng kaisipang inalipin ng takot
at bibig ay binusalan sa lagim ng kulturang hinasik ng mga pasista…

kung ang mga hari at mga numununo, bansa ay ginawang pugad
at lipunan ng kanilang kaprityusong pagnanakaw at sambayanan ay
sapilitang itinulak sa kawalang saysay na sakripisyo at pighati…
at walang kalayaan!