*Larita Kutsarita - n. see THE AUTHOR
*Spoonfuls - n. articles/dispatches/scribbles by Larita Kutsarita
(Background photo by Aiess Alonso)

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Kung Ibig Mo Akong Makilala

I am no poet, but this Filipino poem really got me enamored.

It is most popular as a song sung by the late activist-singer Susan Fernandez--“The Nightingale of Philippine Progressive Political Movement,”--whose voice is by far the most beautiful female voice I have ever heard (Janis Joplin's and Joss Stone's both come in second). I was fortunate to watch her perform in a concert tribute for desaparecidos in UP when I was a sophomore. I only used to play her "Escalante" on a loop when I, as a kid, discovered it in one of Papa's old casette tapes back home. When Papa recounted the bloody history behind the song (The Escalante, Negros Occidental Massacre due to labor unrest in September 1984), I loved it even more. "Escalante" is not one of her most well-known songs, but it surely is one of the best. As for the poem below, it was originally written by Ruth Mabanglo, a multi-awarded writer (although it does not define a writer, I believe, as it is only worth noting ^^).

Kung Ibig Mo Akong Makilala
Ruth Elynia S. Mabanglo
Kung ibig mo akong makilala,
lampasan mo ang guhit ng mahugis na balat,
ang titig kong dagat--
yumayapos nang mahigpit sa bawat saglit
ng kahapon ko't bukas.

Kung ibig mo akong makilala
sunduin mo ako sa himlayang dilim
at sa madlang pagsukol ng inunang hilahil,
ibangon ako at saka palayain.

Isang pag-ibig na lipos ng lingap,
tahanang malaya sa pangamba at sumbat
may suhay ng tuwa't ang kaluwalhati'y
walang takda--
ialay mo lahat ito sa akin
kung mahal mo ako't ibig kilalanin.

Kung ibig mo akong kilalanin,
sisirin mo ako hanggang buto,
liparin mo ako hanggang utak,
umilanlang ka hanggang kaluluwa--
hubad ako roon: mula ulo hanggang paa.

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