When The Grain Is Golden and The Wind Is Chilly Then it is Time To Harvest
Leron-leron sinta, umakyat sa papaya
Dala-dala’y buslo’, sisidlan ng bunga
In a dusty village in Cagayan Valley,
Ramon and his father were planting rice when soldiers
appeared on their farm. They questioned his father,
if he’d seen any communist rebels recently
in the area, and when he did not give them
a good enough answer, they beat him with the blunt ends
of their rifles, shot him as he was lying
on the ground. Ramon snuck away but remained hidden
in nearby bushes, to witness the soldiers
laugh out loud as they chopped his father’s shaking body--
'they first removed his penis, then cut below
the knees, then the ankles, then the elbows, then the neck.'
Leron-leron sinta, umakyat sa papaya
Dala-dala’y buslo’, sisidlan ng bunga
After dusk Ramon ran home to his mother
and younger brother. She feared the soldiers would soon knock
on their door, so she took her sons deep inside
the muddy jungle of the Sierra Madre mountains.
After about four weeks, she sent Ramon to buy
rice, some fish, and a few canned goods. The sun was heavy,
the road to the village kept stretching further
and his legs felt weak, so Ramon boarded a jeepney
to take him to the market on Luna street.
A soldier recognized him at a military
checkpoint and he pointed his gun at Ramon,
yelled at him to step out with his hands up in the air.
Leron-leron sinta, umakyat sa papaya
Dala-dala’y buslo’, sisidlan ng bunga
No questions were asked. Ramon told us the most
painful torture he endured was when the soldiers joined
two blocks of wood and used the weapon to hit
him directly on the ears, over and over
until he bled. He doesn’t remember how
he escaped but he found himself wandering around
the countryside for days, eating grass,
guava leaves, bamboo shoots, and bananas to survive.
Leron-leron sinta, umakyat sa papaya
Dala-dala’y buslo’, sisidlan ng bunga
Here, at the Children’s Rehabilitation
Center, Ramon made friends, played with the other children,
started to learn how to write. He asked questions
about his mother and younger brother, he wanted
to know when he could return to his village
to harvest their rice fields. He said it was important
to go home because 'when the grain is golden
and the wind is chilly, then it is the time to harvest.'
After four months, we learned that Ramon’s mother
was probably dead. 'Where’s the body? I want to see
the body, I want to bury my mother.'
I told him we didn’t know where the body was, but we
would try to find it. After a long silence,
he finally went to his room. Then I followed him
upstairs, found him hunched over the bathroom sink
washing his red face again and again and again.
Leron-leron sinta, umakyat sa papaya
Dala-dala’y buslo’, sisidlan ng bunga
Ramon is still with us, his friends have brought him
out of his shell, he has learned how to speak Tagalog,
and he is beginning to read. Ramon dreams
about going home. He writes letters to his younger
brother even though we tell him he is still
missing. We collect those letters he writes every day.
He tells his younger brother, 'If you come here,
you will have many good friends to play with, eat plenty
of food, and these nice people will let us stay
here in Manila, but maybe I will go home first
and see what’s happened to our family farm.'
He then writes, 'Do you know that your mother is now dead?'
poem by Nick Carbo
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Related quotes
Segurista
umang nga gakamang kanunay
dala-dala ang iyang balay-gamay
kay hadlok masunog ang baybay
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Segurista (wary)
================================================= ===========
he hermit crab crawls
always carrying its small shell house
fearing that there might be fire on the shore
==================================== ========================
umang nga gakamang kanunay
dala-dala ang iyang balay-gamay
kay hadlok masunog ang baybay
=================================== =========================
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Kalbaryo
Kalbaryo
kahit sino ay may dala
sa ayaw at sa gusto mo
kahit ikaw ay may dala.
Iyong kalbaryo
kahit ayaw mo
kailangan mong dalhin
sapagkat ito'y sa iyo
at tanging ikaw lamang
ang makadadala.
Kung sakaling ikaw
ay makaramdam ng pagsuko
iyong alalahanin
si Kristong para sa iyo'y
buhay ay inalay
upang kalbaryong
sa Kanya'y iyong bigay
Kanyang madala
hanggang katapusan.
poem by Marites C. Cayetano
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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The one who doesn't know is practically similar to the one who can't remember.
aphorism by Ramon Eder, translated by Dan Costinaş
Submitted by Dan Costinaş
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Lunti
Kapirasong pangarap
ang tanging dala-dala
sa ibayong dagat
duo'y napadpad.
Bakit nga ba
kailangan pang lumisan
gayung
may lunti din naman
sa pinagmulan.
Aah,
ang lunti doon
ay di ko pag-aari
hanggang tingin lamang
at hindi malapitan.
Ano nga ba
sa akin ang saysay
ng mga lunti doon
kung kahit sa gilid nito'y
di rin lang naman
makakaapak.
Sa ibayong dagat....
taglay ko'y
kapirasong pangarap
baka sakaling doon
bukod sa lunti
ay may kulay pa
ng bahaghari.
poem by Marites C. Cayetano
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Better being a good tourist than a bad traveler.
aphorism by Ramon Eder, translated by Dan Costinaş
Submitted by Dan Costinaş
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Some people shake hands as if they would like you to take their pulse.
aphorism by Ramon Eder, translated by Dan Costinaş
Submitted by Dan Costinaş
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If they give you ruled paper, write the other way.
quote by Juan Ramon Jiminez
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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No one is so insignificant that does not occupy the exact center of the universe.
aphorism by Ramon Eder, translated by Dan Costinaş
Submitted by Dan Costinaş
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The wings get atrophied if one doesn't exercise them.
aphorism by Ramon Eder, translated by Dan Costinaş
Submitted by Dan Costinaş
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Next step: they will end up prohibiting even the peace pipe smoking.
aphorism by Ramon Eder, translated by Dan Costinaş
Submitted by Dan Costinaş
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If you get a ruled paper, write on the back.
quote by Juan Ramon Jimenez
Submitted by Dan Costinaş
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Black is the color of the ambitious people.
aphorism by Ramon Eder, translated by Dan Costinaş
Submitted by Dan Costinaş
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The beauty is only given in usufruct.
aphorism by Ramon Eder, translated by Dan Costinaş
Submitted by Dan Costinaş
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There is no sanity without compassion.
aphorism by Ramon Eder, translated by Dan Costinaş
Submitted by Dan Costinaş
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We are immortal every day of our lives, except one.
aphorism by Ramon Eder, translated by Dan Costinaş
Submitted by Dan Costinaş
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Some scientists are so absent minded that they can’t remember where they left their ethics.
aphorism by Ramon Eder, translated by Dan Costinaş
Submitted by Dan Costinaş
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Two cockerels cannot share table.
aphorism by Ramon Eder, translated by Dan Costinaş
Submitted by Dan Costinaş
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There are combats that enigmatically one wants to lose.
aphorism by Ramon Eder, translated by Dan Costinaş
Submitted by Dan Costinaş
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The irony denounces the sane ones.
aphorism by Ramon Eder, translated by Dan Costinaş
Submitted by Dan Costinaş
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