Contemporary Poetry

in Philippine Literature in English

 Literary History

 Anthology

 Casebook

Prepared by:

Karen D. Mosende
PhD Literature
 Philippine literature in English began in the first decade of the 20th century, soon after

the establishment of the educational system. The first American teachers arrived in 1901; the

Philippine Normal College was established in 1901, and the University of the Philippines (UP) in

1908. The decision to use English as the official medium of instruction for all public schools was

the seed for the growth of a literature in English in a country that had at least eight major

vernacular languages and had been colonized by Spain for more than 300 years. Since none of

the vernaculars had been used in formal education, and Spanish had not been formally taught to

the Filipinos until after 1863, English seemed to the products of the educational system the only

logical tongue in which to write. It was the language of learning, the language of the models they

read, and eventually the language of the publications friendly to their work.

1980’s

According to Carbo (1996) in his book Returning a Borrowed Tongue: An Anthology of

Filipino and Filipino American Poetry, the 1980s proved to be a politically aware era for

Filipino poets, who were writing under the censorship of the dictatorial regime of Ferdinand

Marcos (1965–1986). As a reaction to the 1983 assassination of Benigno Aquino, Jr., a leading

anti-Marcos politician, several poets formed a literary organization called PLAC (Philippine

Literary Arts Council) to protest the abuses of the government. One of its leading founders was

Alfred A. Yuson (b. 1945), whose neorealist books of poems are Dream of Knives (1986) and

Trading in Mermaids (1993). Current trends in Filipino poetry are best exemplified by the

pyrotechnic imagination of Eileen R. Tabios (b. 1960), whose book of poetry Beyond Life

Sentences (1998) won the National Book Award given by the Manila Book Critics Circle. Her
poems incorporate the American precision of Marianne Moore, the experimental joie de vivre of

Paul Valery, and the imagistic intensity of Pablo Neruda.

Since then, Filipino poets have become more conscious of language and the multiple

realities that can be constructed through it.

In the book Philippine Literature: A History and an Anthology, Lumbera (1982)

explained that it is in poetry that the most activity is being seen. Poems are being published in

the national magazines, and although still treated as fillers, they are steadily there. This and

appearance in school publications are the usual first step for young writers, the second step being

a slim volume of one’s own. Poetry readings are held at universities and cafes, which gather

poets, readers/listeners, and would-be poets. Among the most notable poets of this period are:

 Ramon C. Sunico, bilingual writer, whose book The Secret of Graphite: Poems in 2 Tongues,
1989, has poems on facing pages that are not translations but separate renditions of
experience;
 Marjorie Evasco, whose finely crafted Dreamweavers, 1987, sings an authentic woman’s
song. In the same 1991 Contemporary Poetry Series appeared;
 Eric Gamalinda’s Lyrics From a Dead Language;
 Fatima V. Lim’s dual volume Wandering Roots, 1978-1988, and From the Hothouse,1989-
1990; (In his introduction to the book,
 Isagani Cruz calls her “the most accomplished young Filipino poet of our time”),
 Danton Remoto’s bilingual Skin Voices Faces, and
 de Ungria’s Decimal Places;
 Rowena Tiempo Torrevillas’ Mountain Sacraments came out in the same year, as did
 Luis Francia’s The Arctic Archipelago and Other Poems. The other names to whom attention
must be directed are:
 Jim Agustin,
 Cesar Ruiz Aquino,
 Juaniyo Arcellana,
 Grace Monte de Ramos,
 Herminio Beltran Jr.,
 Merlinda Bobis,
 Ma. Luisa Aguilar-Cariño,
 Fidelito Cortes,
 Jose Y. Dalisay Jr.,
 Simeon Dumdum Jr.,
 Felix Fojas,
 Hilario Francia,
 Marne Kilates,
 Fanny Llego,
 Edgardo Maranan,
 Lina Sagaral Reyes,
 J. Neil C. Garcia,
 Cesare Syjuco, and
 Merlie Alunan-Wenceslao.

In 1983, a group of poets writing in English published In Memoriam through the

underground press. Their collected poems protested the Aquino assassination and the corruption

the Philippine government.

Poems during this period of the Third Republic were romantic and revolutionary. Writers

wrote openly of their criticism against the government. The supplications of the people were

coached in fiery, colorful, violent, profane and insulting language.

1990’s

Translations of poetry flourished in this period, making foreign works available to local

audiences and regional literatures accessible to non-native speakers. In Makabagong Tinig,

writers like Rolando S. Tinio, Teo T. Antonio, Virgilio S., and Mike Bigornia translated the

poems of Archibald MacLeish, EricaJong, T.S. Eliot, William Carlos Williams, Wallace Stevens,

and others. Hilario Francia translated Jose Garcia Villa’s English poems to Filipino in 55 Poems,

1988, and Alfrredo Navarro Salanga translated the poems of Virgilio S. Almario from Filipino to

English in Selected Poems, a bilingual text.

 Handurawan (Ideals), 1990, is a trilingual anthology of poems by winners of the CCP

Literature grants for poetry, 1988-89. In it, Pascual’s poems in the original Ilocano are

juxtaposed with a Filipino translation by Reynaldo Duque and an English translation by Pascual

himself; Leo Bob Flores’ poems in Cebuano arejuxtaposed with a Filipino translation by Don

Pagusara and an English translationby Simeon Dumdum Jr.; and Lina Sagaral Reyes’ works in

English are juxtaposed with Ester Bandillo’s Cebuano translation and Merlinda Bobis’ Filipino

translation.

In Sa Daigdig ng Kontradiksyon (In the World of Contradictions), 1991, Lacaba

translates European and American poets like W.H. Auden, Charles Baudelaire, William Blake,

Bertolt Brecht, John Keats, Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Ezra

Pound, John Crowe Ransom, William Shakespeare, Rainer Maria Rilke, Garcia Lorca, Robert

Frost, and e.e. cummings; Latin American poets Pablo Neruda, Victor Jara, Otto Rene Castillo,

Cesar Vallejo, and Nicolas Guillen; Chinese poets Mao Tse Tung and Lu Hsun; Vietnamese Ho

Chi Minh; as well as Filipino poets who wrote in English: Lorena Barros, Emmanuel Lacaba,

N.V.M. Gonzalez, Perfecto Terra Jr., and Jose Garcia Villa. (Retrieved from CCP Encyclopedia

of Philippine Art; http://digitaleducation.net/epa-web/philippine-literature-aspects-of-production)

Contemporary Philippine Poems in English

Some of the great Filipino poets of this period are the following:

1. “Elemental.” Evasco, Marjorie. In Forbidden Fruit: Women Write the Erotic. Cuyugan,

Tina,ed. Pasig: Anvil, 1992.

Evasco teaches at DLSU where she directs the Bienvenido N. Santos Creative Writing Center.

Evasco’s lyric poem mimics the sensuality of Pablo Neruda’s poetry.

2. “Queen.” Baytan, Ronald. In Ladlad 2: An Anthology of Philippine Gay Writing. Garcia, J.

Neil and Danton Remoto, eds. Pasig: Anvil, 1996.

Baytan teaches literature in DLSU where he also studied.

Baytan’s poem reveals the fantasy of many bakla that’s to win an identity-affirming beauty title.

3. “Glue Children.” Realuyo, Bino. In The Likhaan Book of Poetry and Fiction 1996. Dalisay,

Jose, Jr. and Ricardo de Ungria, eds. Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press, 1997.

Born and raised in Manila, Realuyo now lives in the US where his gay novel The Umbrella

Country was published.

Realuyo’s poem examines the lamentable condition of rugby kids littering the city.

4. “Sturm and Drang.” Macansantos, Francis. In The Words and Other Poems. Quezon City:

University of the Philippines Press, 1997.

Macansantos studied in Ateneo de Zamboanga and Silliman University and taught in several

universities in Baguio City.

Macansantos’ poem is a satire on religious rituals.

5. “Ghost Pain.” Dimalanta, Ophelia. In Love Woman. Manila: University of Santo Tomas

Press, 1998.

Dimalanta teaches in University of Santo Tomas, where she heads the Center for Creative

Writing Studies.

Dimalanta’s poem records the tragic event of a disco fire wherein scores of young revelers lost
their lives.

6. “The Year of the Comet.” Arvin Mangohig. In The Likhaan Book of Poetry and Fiction

1997. Abad, Gemino and Cristina Pantoja Hidalgo, eds. Quezon City: University of the

Philippines Press, 1999.

Mangohig has a poetry book called The Gaze published by UP, which conferred on him a

master’s degree in Creative Writing.

Mangohig’s poem celebrates romance with a celestial phenomenon as backdrop.

7. “On This Site Will Soon Rise a Shopping Mall.” Yuson, Alfred. In The Likhaan Book of

Poetry and Fiction 1997. Abad, Gemino and Cristina Pantoja Hidalgo, eds. Quezon City:

University of the Philippines Press, 1999.

Yuson’s latest novel was shortlisted in the 2008 Man Asian Literary Prize. He teaches in ADMU

while maintaining a column in Philippine Star.

Yuson’s poem is a dirge on the notoriety of constructing temples of capitalism where natural

space used to thrive.

20-21st Century

Filipino poets have become more conscious of his art with the proliferation of writers

workshops here and abroad and the bulk of literature available to him via the mass media

including the internet. The various literary awards such as the Don Carlos Palanca Memorial

Awards for Literature, the Philippines Free Press, Philippine Graphic, Home Life and Panorama

literary awards encourage him to compete with his peers and hope that his creative efforts will be
rewarded in the long run. With the new requirement by the Commission on Higher Education of

teaching of Philippine Literature in all tertiary schools in the country emphasizing the teaching of

the vernacular literature or literature of the regions, the audience for Filipino writers is virtually

assured. And, perhaps, a national literature finding its niche among the literature of the world

will not be far behind.

Some of them who published their poems in this period are the following:

1. “Postscript.” Katigbak, Mookie. In The Likhaan Book of Poetry and Fiction 2000. Garcia, J.

Neil and Charlson Ong, eds. Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press, 2002.

Ateneo-bred Katigbak taught in UP-Diliman after a stint abroad.

Katigbak’s poem shows that distance is relative, especially with longing as measure.

2. “Echolalia.” Manalo, Paolo. In Jolography. Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press,

2003.

Manalo, who teaches in UP-Diliman, won a Palanca for his collection Jolography.

Manalo’s postmodern-postcolonial poem is a witty take on everyday Pinoy expressions.

3. “Fishbone.” Nezhukumatathil, Aimee. In Miracle Fruit. Dorset, Vermont: Tupelo Press,

2003.

Nezhukumatathil is a Filipino-South Indian university professor whose collection Miracle Fruit

won the Tupelo Prize for Poetry. Nezhukumatathil’s poem displays the tenacity for traditions

while living in a land notorious for shattering them.

4. “The Muse This Time.” Linmark, R. Zamora. In One Hundred Love Poems: Philippine

Love Poetry Since 1905. Abad, Gemino and Alfred Yuson, eds. Quezon City: University of the

Philippines Press, 2004.Linmark shuttles between the Philippines and the U.S., where his campy

novel Rolling the R’s was published.Linmark’s poem is a realization of the true meaning of love

after a disastrous series of gay relationships.

5. “hi-density.” de Veyra, Lourd Ernest. In One Hundred Love Poems: Philippine Love Poetry

Since 1905. Abad, Gemino and Alfred Yuson, eds. Quezon City: University of the Philippines

Press, 2004. de Veyra is an associate in the UST-CCWS and performs for Radioactive Sago

project. de Veyra’s prose poem shows the sensual intensity of one’s yearning for the absent

beloved.

6. “Double Takes.” Valdellon, Naya. In One Hundred Love Poems: Philippine Love Poetry

Since 1905. Abad, Gemino and Alfred Yuson, eds. Quezon City: University of the Philippines

Press, 2004. Valdellon studied in ADMU where she also teaches. She was the recipient of the

first Maningning Miclat Award for Poetry. Valdellon makes a romantic take at the classic W. H.

Auden poem “Musee de Beaux Arts.”

7. “Flood.” Suarez, Angelo. In One Hundred Love Poems: Philippine Love Poetry Since 1905.

Abad, Gemino and Alfred Yuson, eds. Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press, 2004.

UST-bred Suarez won the Bridges of Struga Prize from UNESCO/Macedonia for his poem

collection The Nymph of MTV. Suarez’ poem likens the beloved to the ubiquity of city

floodwater.
8. “Too Many Movies.” Reyes, Isabelita. In The Likhaan Book of Poetry and Fiction 2002.

Lanot, Marra and Carla Pacis, eds. Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press, 2004.

Reyes teaches creative writing in the State University where she edits The UP Newsletter.

Reyes’ poem criticizes the urban decay that escapist modernity engendered.

9. “Apology.” Garcia, J. Neil. In Father Poems. Abad, Gemino and Alfred Yuson, eds. Pasig:

Anvil, 2004. Together with Remoto, Garcia edited the landmark anthologies of gay writings

called Ladlad. He teaches in UP-Diliman. Garcia’s poem explores the complex relationship tying

a macho father and his gay son.

10. “Geography Lesson.” Cruz, Conchitina. In Dark Hours. Quezon City: University of the

Philippines Press, 2004. A Fulbright grantee and a Palanca awardee, Cruz teaches creative

writing in UP-Diliman. Cruz’ poem, composed of blank spaces and footnotes only, bewails the

curse of collective amnesia among Filipinos.

11. “Letterpress.” David, Mabi. In Unto Thee. Quezon City: High Chair, 2005.

David earned a Creative Writing degree from UP, for whose Press she is working.

David’s poem shows the plight of being torn between domesticity and career.

12. “Baguio, the Return.” Galan, Ralph Semino. In Baguio Calligraphy. Macansantos, Francis

and Luchie Maranan, eds. Pasig: Anvil, 2010.

Galan co-edited Bongga ka ‘day: Pinoy gay quotes to live by with Baytan and Garcia. He teaches

in UST. Galan’s poem displays an ambivalent longing, heightened by the Baguio cold, for the

missing beloved.
13. “The Cave.” Toledo, Joel. In panitikan.com.ph. Retrieved March 13, 2010 from

http://panitikan.com.ph/poetry/thecave.htm.

Toledo, a Palanca awardee, graduated from UP-Diliman and is now teaching in Miriam College.

Toledo’s poem is an examination of a war refuge site that, despite its present existence, seems

already pushed away from memory.

TRENDS

Spoken Word Poetry

Spoken word Poetry is a performance art that is word based. It is an oral art that focuses

on the aesthetics of word play and intonation and voice inflection. It is a 'catchall' which includes

any kind of poetry recited aloud, including hip-hop, jazz poetry, poetry slams, traditional poetry

readings and can include comedy routines and 'prose monologues'.

Spoken word has actually existed for many years. Long before writing, through a cycle of

practicing, listening and memorizing, each language drew on its resources of sound structure for

aural patterns that made spoken poetry very different from ordinary discourse and easier to

commit to memory.

In the Philippines, the popularity of spoken has just began recently although the first

international contest was held in 1990 in California. The art of spoken word has been

popularized by the hit romantic comedy series On the Wings of Love, with one of the supporting

characters, Rico (played by Juan Miguel Severo) being a spoken word poet. Pioneers include

Kooky Tuason of Romancing Venus, which is a sisterhood of performance poets that include
Karen Kunawicz of Dredd Poets Society and Charms Tianzon of the band Matilda. (Retrieved

from http://wikipedia.org/wiki/spokenword)

Indeed, the Tagalog Spoken word poetry has made its way into the hearts and souls of

many Filipinos especially capturing the interest of the millennials. Poets say that art does not

only exist on paper, but also in the streets, in music, in images, in motion. It is everywhere. And

for some, it is up on stage.

“We don’t just read poetry, we perform it.” That’s how the millenials defined the art of

spoken word poetry. In the age of social media, the art of spoken word poetry is spreading even

faster. (Retrieved from http://rappler.com)

SMS Poetry

SMS poetry writing contests . Since 2002, the National Commission on Culture and Arts

(NCCA) has sponsored poetry writing contests wherein poetry in designated traditional forms

must be written on a given theme and submitted via text messaging. Some of the past contests

were Textanaga, Dalitext, and Dionatext.

Alt Lit, Magnetic Poetry

One of the new styles in my online search is called Alt Lit, alt meaning alternative. Such

irony, word though, since the word Alt in German means old in English, and the style had been
around for a while. Alt Lit is an amalgam of words and phrases that the writer collects from

different internet areas, takes a new word processor page and re-arranges into a freshened literary

piece, frequently labeled poetry. Writers have discovered a phrase or two in another’s writing

that they have found appealing and used it in some way. If this is a new style, then poets and

writers should produce fresh, original styles, word phrasing and content. (Retrieved from

http://esmithsleigh.weebly.com/blogabout-author/current-trends-in-poetry)

This gluing together of words and phrases is similar to the magnetic poetry. Magnetic

Poetry is a toy and creative writing aid consisting of individual words, often related to a

particular theme or topic, printed on small magnets which can be creatively arranged into poetry

on a refrigerator or other metal surface. The idea of magnetic poetry just happened accidentally

when Dave Kapell, founder of Magnetic Poetry, was suffering from writer's block while trying to

compose song lyrics. To overcome this problem, he wrote down interesting words on pieces of

paper and rearranged them, looking for inspiration. What he hadn't figured into this experiment

was his allergies. One good sneeze and any progress were sent flying across the room. Dave

decided to glue the words to pieces of magnets and stick them to a pizza tin. Then he got hungry

and the now magnetized words made their way to the refrigerator door. Before too long, Dave

wasn't the only one rearranging his would-be song lyrics. When friends came over, Dave noticed

they started to move the magnets around, amusing themselves by writing the first magnetic

poems. Since then, Dave Kapell published a number of books describing the use of the kit and

anthologizing poems produced with it. (Retrieved from http://magneticpoetry.com)

 An Anthology of Philippine Ecopoetry

Poetry, indeed can affect change. As what Greg Garrard’s says that poetry expresses

“close personal involvements,” pertaining to the way we human beings respond to our own

environmental matters. It then challenges us to the point of asking ourselves, What is my own

response to my surroundings? Writing an anthology like this could be the way we could respond

to our surroundings.

This anthology is a concrete voice in the ecological discourse. When Al Gore came in the

Philippines for the Climate Reality Leadership Training, it is touching when he used a quote

from Ralph Waldo Emerson to denote the fight against climate change deniers and fossil fuel

capitalists. This is a demonstration of the power of words, of poetry.

 The poem, Auguries, written by multi-awarded Filipina poet Luisa A. Igloria (aka Maria

Luisa Aguilar-Cariño), won the first prize in the 2015 Resurgence Poetry Prize, which is the

world’s first major award for “ecopoetry”.

Igloria’s winning entry, which was read at the Leighton House Museum in London on

December 14, 2015, reported moved the judges for its “authenticity, intensity and cohesion. The

awards are made each year for original and previously unpublished poems in English which

embrace ecological themes. With total prize money of £8,000, the award ranks among the

highest of any English language single poem competition.

Igloria is no stranger to awards and recognitions at the highest levels. She graduated cum

laude from the University of the Philippines-Baguio with a bachelor’s (humanities major in

comparative literature). She earned her master’s in literature at Ateneo de Manila as a Robert

Southwell fellow and her Ph.D. in English and creative writing at the University of Illinois-

Chicago as a Fullbright Fellow.

In the Philippines, Luisa is an eleven-time recipient of the Carlos Palanca Memorial

Award for Literature in three genres (poetry, nonfiction, and short fiction), where she was

inducted into the Hall of Fame. The Palanca award is the Philippines' highest literary distinction.

The Chicago-based Poetry Foundation lists her numerous honors including poetry prizes,

residencies, seminars and international retreats for writers.

Hawaii also recognized her in 1996 when the University of Hawaii-Manoa Center for

Philippine Studies invited her as a Visiting Humanities Scholar. She is a tenured professor of

English and creative writing at Old Dominion University where she also served as director of the

MFA Creative Writing Program from 2009-2015. (Retrieved from http://luisaigloria.com)

 Auguries

“I begin again with the smallest numbers.” Naomi Shihab Nye

In a drawer I found a handful of keys,

but could not remember which flowers
they were meant to open.

I kept as still as possible,

hoping to hear the answer
the ice melted.

Not only in the amphitheater are there trials;

keep a strong heart and do not be distracted
if it should stop raining roses.

One morsel of bread,

the dying prisoner
remembering his name.

What flood might a cupful of water unleash?

Winged creatures search in the absent grass
for treasure, a diligence rewarded by the sun.
 The poem Perspective, written by Kei Valmoria Bughaw is an excerpt from Rina Garcia

Chua’s Sustaining the Archipelago: An Anthology of Philippine Ecopoetry, the first-ever

ecopoetics anthology in the Philippines.

In choosing this poem to be included in the anthology, Chua said “I did not only choose

this ecopoem for its content, but also for this poignant line: As if we too didn’t lose ourselves, /

didn’t lose our selves. The multiplicity of the archipelago is evident here—the Lumads have lost

their land, and we in the city are losing ourselves too, in an existentialist kind of way. There is

unity there in the loss, a connection that exists despite being divided by miles of land and water.”

Bughaw is a Psychology graduate from University of San Carlos in Cebu City. She is a

member of Women in Literary Arts- Cebu. Her interest in writing that concerns the ecology is

reflected from being an Advocacy Officer at Citizens' Disaster Response Center.

 Perspective

In the city, time moves to the beat

of footsteps along crowded streets.
Here every minute is counted
and exchanged as gold.

For this we rush hurried, harried

by bosses hundreds of miles away
and smile on Skype—we’re okay.
Tomorrow is payday.

We steal breaks enough for coffee.

At the pantry the talk is small:
the weather back home, who’s married,
who’s gone bad, the recently buried.

Our mouths sigh the names of farmers

who lost crops to wind and rain.
Our heads shake at the poor Mamanwa
whose gods were killed by cranes.

As if we too didn’t lose ourselves,

didn’t lose our selves.

In the city, time moves. Abruptly—

we do not have time to speak of
neighbors who eat only at noon, or
forgotten parents staring at the moon.

As we get up to go, suddenly

I think of the muddy or dusty paths
linking the hills to the towns.

On those paths time does not fly.

On them the poor carry the world
in sacks on their shoulders.
 A Eulogy of Roaches is written by the National Artist of the Philippines Bienvenido

Lumbera. Lumbera is a Filipino poet, critic and dramatist. He is a recipient of the Ramon

Magsaysay Award for Journalism, Literature and Creative Communications. He won numerous

literary awards, including the National Book Awards from the National Book Foundation, and

the Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards.

Lumbera’s writings were nationalistic and politically satirical. He proved to the Marcos

Administration that “pen is mightier than the sword”; he showed no fear and took part in most

activist movements by then. Lumbera is a poet, librettist and scholar.

Lumbera is now widely acknowledged as one of the pillars of contemporary

Philippine literature, cultural studies and film, having written and edited numerous books on

literary history, literary criticism, and film. He also received several awards citing his

contribution to Philippine letters, most notably the 1975 Palanca Award for Literature; the

1993 Magsaysay Award for Journalism, Literature, and Creative Communication Arts;

several National Book Awards from the Manila Critics Circle; the 1998 Philippine Centennial

Literary Prize for Drama; and the 1999 Cultural Center of the Philippines Centennial Honors for

the Arts. He is currently the editor of Sanghaya (National Commission on Culture and the Arts),

Professor at the Department of English in the School of Humanities of the Ateneo de Manila

University, Emeritus Professor at the Department of Filipino and Philippine Literature, College

of Arts and Letters, U.P. Diliman, and Professor of Literature at De La Salle University. For a

time, he also served as president of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT), a national

organization of more than 40,000 teachers and employees in the education sector.

Lumbera was proclaimed National Artist in April 2006.

 A Eulogy of Roaches

Blessed are the cockroaches.

In this country they are

the citizens who last.
They need no police
to promulgate their peace
because they tolerate
each other's smell or greed.

Friends to dark and filth,

they do not choose their meat.
Although they neither sow
nor reap, a daily feast
is laid for them in rooms
and kitchens of their pick.

The roaches do not spin,

and neither do they weave.
But note the russet coat
the sluggards wear: clothed
at birth, roaches require
no roachy charity.

They settle where they wish

and have no rent to pay.
Eviction is a word
quite meaningless to them
who do not have to own
their dingy crack of wall.

Not knowing dearth or taxes,

they increase and multiply.
Survival is assured
even the jobless roach;
his opportunities
pile up where garbage grows.
Dying is brief and cheap
and thus cannot affright.
A whiff of toxic mist,
an agile heel, a stick
-- the swift descent of pain
is also final death.

Their annals may be short,

but when the simple poor
have starved to simple death,
roaches still circulate
in cupboards of the rich,

the strong, the wise, the dead.

 We Won't be Tending Gardens by Ana Maria Katigbak-Lacuesta is a first prize winner

from the Poetry category of 2014 Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature. Having won

recently in the English division for poetry in 2016, Katigbak-Lacuesta is already a four-time

Carlos Palanca Award winner.

Ana Maria Katigbak-Lacuesta also known as Mookie Katigbak has authored four books,

including the two poetry collections The Proxy Eros (2008) and Burning Houses (2013). She is

the coeditor of Fast Food Fiction Delivery (2014). She earned a BA from Ateneo de Manila

University in the Philippines and an MFA from the New School University and has received a

number of prizes for her work, including the 2014 Carlos Malanca Memorial Award for Poetry,

which is the Philippines’ foremost literary award, and the Philippines Free Press Award for

Poetry in 2007. Her essays and short stories have appeared in a number of literary publications in

her home country and abroad and her work has been widely anthologized. Her work has been

featured in The New York Quarterly, The Philippines Free Press, Rogue Magazine, and

elsewhere.

Katigbak-Lacuesta participates in the International Writing Program’s Fall Residency

courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State. She

lives in the Philippines.

 We, Won’t, Be, Tending, Gardens,

Watch, scant, grow, lush, won’t, turn, the, earth

for bulb, or root, I’ve, longed, to, say,
peppermint,
and,
thyme,
juice, a, tomato, with, my, teeth,

No, we, won’t, be, tending, gardens, kiss,

A, wet, deep, for, what, might, grow, under,
dark,
and,
succulent,
As, long, promises, the, orchids,

we, overlove, are, deep, in, water, do, not,

aspire, they, are, trying, to, tell, us, something,
Trust,
Says, the, sprig,
And, Trust,
says, the, spray, and, I, fear, the, long, gather.

I, nestle, my, palm, on, a, groove, I’ve, no,

time, for, or, roots, to, spare, I, mark,
my, air,
with, dark,
matter,
kiss, what won’t, be, sown,

or, held, to, light, I’ll, hate, my, scorn, and,

swear, a, tender, year,
There,
now,
you, say, there, there,
toeing, dirt, over, the, groove,

Tending, other, far, gardens.

 Rekindling by Glenn Vincent Kintanar Atanacio is included in the textbook Philippine

Literature in English, which meets the competency standards of the Department of Education K-

12 curricula. Since the textbook aims in honing the students’ vital 21st century skills, it makes

the poem a contemporary one.

Glenn Vincent Kintanar Atanacio obtained his AB Journalism from the University of

Santo Tomas in 2005. One of the most promising poets of his generation, he has honed his craft

on the streets of Manila as much as in the conference halls of workshops and seminars. He has

been a writing fellow to the UP, Ateneo and IYAS National Writers Workshops and has received

due recognition, including the award Thomasian Poet of the Year 2003-2004.

Glenn has served as associate editor and literary editor of UST’s The Flame journals and

the organization’s head literary folio, Dapitan, which was awarded Best Student Literary Folio

by the Catholic Mass Media Awards. He has also been a features contributor to Asia Geographic

Magazine. As an aspiring media practitioner, Glenn has attended various seminars and lectures

on journalism. At present he is a staff writer for Manila Standard Today.

 Rekindling

After the storm we march, to seek the aimless

Rubble of our house. Beneath filth and boulder,
Parts keep, days revealing each to the wonder
Of our probing hands. What wistful names possess
These items—-wood, lock, familiar foyer
Of home, door? Softly, we pronounce them, seizing
Memory before word, told once when like warriors
We brawled against flood and tempests; time packing
Our bags but still we stayed. Suddenly mere glass is more
Than window or rim to measure and restore;
Remembrance more than a dream we pocket after
Sleep. Again, we nail back walls to stand;
Patch a future together from nearly nowhere:
Cardboard box, iron sheet—-this is roof, remember?
Aware, we sift through scraps of preplanned
Ventures, and chuck out ones we could not shell
Anymore within these shaken borders. This, finally,
Is reform: refitting pieces for change intrinsically
Of need, redrawing links so we can rebuild, retell,
Retake the stories of our broken house.
 The Case Book

Introduction
Ecopoetry is defined as contemporary poetry with a strong ecological emphasis. It has
been constantly fluid in its definition. In Greg Garrard’s essay entitled “Images Adequate to Our
Predicament: Ecology, Environment and Ecopoetics” Ecopoetry is defined as that which adopts
the stance that all human actions should be guided by what is the common good for all species in
the entirety of the biosphere.

Ecopoetry is actually a complex term that stems from three terminologies: nature poetry,
environmental poetry, and ecological poetry. Borrowing from Anne Fisher-Wirth and Laura-
Gray Street’s Preface for The Ecopoetry Anthology, it is defined as: nature poetry has been
around as long as poetry has been; thus, this is poetry that describes and is inspired by nature or
the environment.

Ecopoetry sparked by the end of the World Wars and the Industrial Revolution, when the
effects of environmental degradation started becoming evident. Poets began to write with a
politicized environment and activism in mind—delving into topics of social and environmental
injustice, postcolonialism, gender studies, and such. Ecological poetry has been described as
experimental for it exhibits what the environment is in poetry. It is metacognitive in the sense
that it thinks about how poems can be ecological and what ecology can look like on page, sort of
like biomimicry.

That being said, ecopoets work among different disciplines to create the space for those
that are unknown in our environment, ecopoetry does not only talk about the environment using
form, meter, and/or content, but it also brings us into the environment and makes us, as a reader,
more knowledgeable and intimate with the space recreated through the poet’s words.

Since the selected poems implicitly and explicitly express their ecological and
sociological values, the Sociological criticism will be employed. Like historical criticism,
sociological criticism examines literature in the cultural, economic, environmental and
sociological context in which it is written or received.
 Chapter 1
The Art of Ecopoetry Writing Can Bring Change in the Society

In English classes, teachers previously use texts lifted from Science textbook just to

establish an interdisciplinary connection. Now, English teachers can use an ecopoem itself to

integrate concepts like climate change and other science related issues. This makes ecopoetry not

only special but urgently relevant in the context of all we are experiencing in the global

environment.

Climate change is affecting people in far-reaching ways. Impacts related to climate

change are evident across regions and in many sectors important to society, such as human

health, agriculture and food security, water supply, transportation, energy, ecosystems, and

others, and are expected to become increasingly disruptive throughout this century and beyond.

Today, these and other aspects of climate change are having increasingly complex and important

impacts on the economy and quality of life of people across continents.

We often ask our students, “What small thing can you do to bring about change in the

society?” The literature or the art is probably a powerful weapon to bring that change. In an

interview for Lantern Review, Igloria stated, “I believe that art does not arise out of a void, and

that it is effective when it makes heartfelt human connections, and even more so when it enables

a sense of agency, the belief that there is something we can do in the world so that change might

take an effect. There is power in its ability to engage memory and intellect, compress and distill

emotion, idea, and experience, and it is this power which poets and writers seek to harness when

speaking to others through their art.

 Poetry has always played a critical role in reflecting the preoccupations of each age, and

few would argue that our planet’s ecological integrity is one of the major issues of our time.

Poems such as Auguries fosters a significant role in providing insight, raising awareness and

provoking concern for the ecological imperative of the times, as the poem reflects the founders’

shared passion for and commitment to poems that investigate and challenge the interrelationship

between nature and human culture.

According to Katigbak-Lacuesta, Igloria’s poems such as Auguries work as “modern

meditations. And what is perhaps Igloria’s strongest narrative gift is her transparent portrayal of

everyday experience.” Auguries indeed portrays the real global issue with all the very real effects

we are experiencing owing to climate change.

The poem does not actually give obvious words about climate change. But it is a good

start for higher level of students, to guide them to the meaning of the chosen words and elicit

from them the real message of the poem. What alarming message does the poem convey to

people? How can students respond significantly?

That is why Igloria expressed that the poem is “a kind of lyric elegy mourning a world

that seems to be passing away.” As it expresses sadness at such global issue, Igloria thinks that

there is hopeful sentiment there too. She said “Our dearest hope is for our children to have a

viable world to inhabit in the future.

 In teaching this poem, my target is not only for the students to realize the real meaning of

the poem and practice their communication skills, but for them to take action on what they could

probably do to fight climate change. In doing so, I would give a task labeled as an advocacy

collateral. Students will be asked to conceptualize or design a well-planned community or

school-based advocacy material that shall benefit its immediate constituents. For example,

students can either create their group advocacy group or join any existing community, school or

non-governmental association or group that aims to protect our environment. For example,

students may join Green Peace, an environmental NGO in the Philippines, and take part to any

of the group’s activities. In this way, students can authentically extend their help to do something

to protect our environment. Students need to document all the proof of membership and activities

they will have and present it in class. To be done by group, students will be learning from each

other and inspire each other more to act significantly for the welfare of the future generation.
 Chapter 2
Environmental Justice is a Strong Concern of Ecopoetry

Ecopoetry can discuss many topics, and environmental justice is one of them. Ecopoetry

can stir a response from those who were previously unaware of the injustices in their

environment, including those of the indigenous peoples in the Philippines who are being driven

away by both the government and capitalists. We do not normally see the Lumads, but when we

read or watch about them in the news, it strikes us. This is the power of the arts. It can instigate

discussions, start revolutions, and clamor for change.

The plight of the Lumad made national headlines last year when authorities and

indigenous peoples clashed in Davao City. Policemen wanted the around 700 Lumad to return to

their homes in Talaingod, Davao del Norte but none of the Lumad wanted to go home to their

villages fearing harassment from troops. To this day, many of the Lumad still battle issues such

as militarization, displacement, and the fight for their ancestral lands. The treatment on Lumad

also still leaves much to be desired. (Retrieved from http://news.abs-cbn.com/video/news

/11/21/16/watch-understanding-the-plight-of-the-lumad)

Teaching this poem in school hopes that students understand Lumads as people.

The difficult struggle for survival and the coming in of settlers have alienated the Lumad from

their culture. The discussion of the poem hopes to contribute to the effort of correcting the

historical injustice done to the Lumad for centuries. We hope that it can generate increased

genuine interest in the Lumad culture so that students will gain insights and a deeper

understanding of their way of life, and hopefully, address the age-old bias against them as a

people.
 Most contemporary writers are advocates of the environmental protection. It is the crux

of our society right now, it is the topic we all must be talking about because in a few years, we

do not know if we will be able to survive climate change or not. The issues of the environment

are those that cannot be undertaken alone, that is why contemporary writers should unite in their

purpose in writing. As what Chua (2016) said in an interview, “The more we are, the stronger

our voices are, and there will be more opportunities for the world , including the government and

capitalists, to listen to us and the voices we wish to represent, like the Lumads.

This ecopoem does not degrade either the struggles of us in the city or the Lumads

because we suffer the same, no matter where we are in the archipelago. Thus, there is more

reason for us to fight for what we believe we rightfully deserve. This is the perspective in the

ecopoem: the interconnectedness of all in the archipelago is evident, and in this

interconnectedness, we learn to seek one another so that we can become unified in our fight for

survival.

This message would not be fully realized by the students, unless they are exposed to the

way of life of the indigenous people in our country. The teacher can either play some videos

showing the struggles and social injustice being experienced by an indigenous group, or bring

students to a real community of an indigenous group and let them interact, understand their way

of life and conclude on how students can possibly help them. Extending a program that is

something sustainable to the group could be a very worthy school or class project.

The readers of this ecopoem should know that there is hope, that we can and will survive

the challenges of the nature of the environment and its effects to its inhabitants like the Lumads.

We can learn absolutely from ecopoetry.

 Chapter 3
The Allegory of the Roaches

In “A Eulogy of Roaches”, Lumbera showed his angst towards the people living in

poverty and anger unto the political leaders. The poem is trying to convey a message that the

Filipino society is influenced by the wealthy-yet-sluggard leaders and those poor families were

born and will die in poverty. Why are the cockroaches so blessed? Why are the cockroaches

suffering? Would we not aim for a change? These are just some of the significant questions

raised in the poem.

The roaches represent two things. First, are the politicians. He described how filthy lapses

in governance could be, “Although they neither sow nor leap, a daily feast is laid for them in

rooms and kitchens of their pick.” Without working, these roaches could still survive because of

the riches they get from the government, itself. They don’t recognize “eviction” since they could

always make their way to have the “crown” or the position through political dynasty.

Moreover, “survival is assured even the jobless roach” because they have the power; the ability

to influence others and make them alter their interests and decisions accordingly with yours.

Power is the core foundation and focus of all these challenges and could only be saved if the

government and its leaders will build a strong institution – an institution which addresses the

needs of its citizens and will reduce the occurrence of corruption through building a more

politically and economically stable state.

Another connotation of the term cockroaches is all about the informal settlers living on

the slum areas of the country. Our society has another term for this informal settlers that we have
in this country. They are the so-called “squatters”. Squatting is a huge social and economic

problem in the Philippines, more so because squatters are protected by laws that make it difficult

to remove them from properties they infest. Presidential Decree 772 (PD 772) effected by former

President Ferdinand Marcos in 1975 made prosecuting “squatting and other criminal acts”

relatively easy. Squatting under PD 772 was clearly a criminal undertaking as Section 1 of the

decree states. Thousands of squatters were successfully evicted from land they illegally inhabited

and jailed for their offense. Unfortunately for the hapless landowner, the Philippines is a society

that likes to play the “humanitarian” card when it comes to squatters. Even the use of the word

“squatter” has for some time been routinely dropped in “polite” conversation in favour of the

rewording “informal settler.”

How can we use this poem in teaching?

Theme
It is all about the cockroaches which are said to be honored on the grounds that they have a ton

of things to be grateful for. They do not have laws that they have to follow to have peace as they

are additionally ready to endure the blemishes of each other, be it the scent or avarice. They don't

pass judgment on each other and does not battle to discover any houses to stay as they can live

wherever they need. They do not even need to work with a specific end goal to consume for the

sustenance’s are now laid for them, they simply need to search for scraps in the places of their

hosts. Their survivals are additionally guaranteed actually for the jobless bug, in light of the fact

that once the waste heaps up, circumstances will come. Likewise, cockroaches can exist much

after their hosts bite the dust.

 The cockroaches had been the best alternative creature he had come upon because as he

described cockroaches are somehow a well-rounded insect that could survive and cope up on any

instance that may happen. It may be harsh and at the same time inappropriate to connote living

persons into a helpless scumbag insects but, reality and truth badly hurts. It had become a norm

to this society.

Values

This poem identifies us as people and the society when all is said in done, one might say that all

individuals are carrying on with regardless of how intense life is. They find themselves able to

discover survival in a place that is not simple to live with; as it is loaded with diverse difficulties

that people need to be overcome enough keeping in mind the end goal to surpass it. This sonnet

shows us to be similar to cockroaches, not to say that we ought to be vermin like them. At the

same time rather, we need to be grateful for what we have regardless of how little it might be.

We need to acknowledge what we have and figure out how to esteem it, furthermore to not cry

about what we do not have.

Every single day, we encounter struggles, storms, pain and trials in our life but the thing

is you will learn from it. We should appreciate that we have a life to live. It is much more

extravagant than other material things. Live your life like a cockroach. Battle for survival; do not

let hardships prevent you from living. Appreciate always the life that God gave to you and also

capitalize your presence.

 We also need to feel great sympathy for the poor people too. It must be very hard to

survive when you have nothing. In our society today, there lot of people without a job, a home or

even a family. Every time we see these people, we should imagine ourselves in their position.

We could wonder how it would feel to be all alone with nothing to do but find ways to feed our

hungry stomach. We should feel so grateful, and blessed at the same time that we had been

fortunate with the status of living we are having in this world, that we do not need to feel nor be

at the shoe steps of the needy people that were connoted by the writer to be roaches.
 Chapter 4
Built-in Resilience: Learning from the Grassroots Coping Strategy of Filipinos During
Calamities as reflected in Atanacio’s Rekindling

Given the conflicts of the serious aftermath of the typhoon like that of Yolanda, your

house is torn into pieces, you do not know where to stay and feed your empty stomach, how do

you imagine yourself to survive? This paper explores the significant coping strategy that can be

learned from examining how Filipinos are coping with the conditions of hunger, homelessness,

loss of loved ones, and despair as an effect of a natural disaster like typhoon Yolanda.

In this generation of millennials, which problem in mental health is a common issue, how do

we prepare students for such real life struggles? According to Jones (2015), Millennials always

strive to succeed, but the way this generation was raised have not always taught them to deal

with the times when they inevitably fail. As Jones puts it, they have not been allowed to struggle

before. They do not have the resilience of previous generations.

In Rekindling by Glenn Atanacio, it clearly reflects such real life struggle during the

aftermath of a strong storm or typhoon. How the persona is dealing with the emotional and

psychological effect is evident. How he is trying to put back all the pieces of the significant

memory of his house, is his way of patching his future together. This is an inspiring example of

how resilient Filipinos are. Being able to stand again and smile again despite a tragic event

seems to be a built-in attitude among Filipinos. This is one skill that millennial students should

be learning from the poem.

The world has seen the emergence of a global movement that calls for a new model of

learning for the twenty-first century. The Center for Curriculum Redesign (2015) offers a
complete framework for the 21st century education, and one of the dimensions about character

qualities is Resilience. In the Philippines, 21st century skills are core to the K to 12 curriculum.

The curriculum also places an emphasis on resilience as one of the significant 21st century skills.

This is the Philippine education realizing that creating people who are able to respond to

challenges and setbacks is an important goal of education.

If Resilience is one of the significant skills that 21st century learners should develop, then

literature classes in the Philippines should consider Glenn Atanacio’s Rekindling, which

meaningfully conveys the theme of Resilience along with the threats of natural calamities. We

should learn that Filipinos live more in the heart than in their mind, the heart that can never touch

or influence them, especially their religion or culture.

The strong message in this paper, however, is that threats, stress, problems or failures

exist in all humans, regardless of culture or race. It is how we deal with it for us to survive. As

the great Confucius says, Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we

fall. And through literature, educators can better cultivate the grassroots values of Resilience to

prepare students to cope with real life stressing experiences and be able to achieve positive

outcomes. Resilience is a personal strength that enables each of our own life journeys and is the

growth capacity, which enables survival throughout human history.

 Chapter 5
The Struggles of the Over Seas Filipino Workers (OFW) as reflected in Lacuesta’s We Won’t Be
Tending Gardens”

“We Won’t Be Tending Gardens” is a collection of poems that embodies the themes of

migration. In the poem, Lacuesta writes from the perspective of people, who are part of the

diaspora, in this case, the Overseas Filipino Workers.

Many Filipino students are able to go to private schools because of having a family

member or a sponsor who is working abroad. Most of these students are just concern with the

money and the challenges they face in their studies, but do not realize the struggle that OFW’s go

through before they are able to send money to their needy loved ones. This is one thing that

students should be aware of. OFWs are the modern heroes who should be recognized not only by

the government but more so with their families.

According to “Migration and Filipino Children Left Behind: A Literature Review," a

working paper sponsored by United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), the Philippines is the

major supplier of labor migrants in Asia to over 100 countries.

“With this huge number of Filipino migrants leaving the country temporarily (or permanently), a

more pressing concern is with regard to children left behind," said Melanie Reyes, author of the

paper and professor at the Miriam College Women and Gender Institute.

The so-called “social cost" of migration is actually something that needs serious

attention, said Reyes. She said that although remittances give way to a better standard of living
for migrant families and good education opportunities for the children, the unfortunate impact of

migration to families left behind is immeasurable.

“Though family separation may not necessarily lead to extreme cases of emotional

disturbance and delinquency among children, children have different levels of acceptance and

tolerance of the migration depending on their cognitive development," she said. And regardless

of the material benefits, the children of mother migrants still consider migration as a form of

abandonment, leaving them “less socially adjusted."

Having discussed the economic benefits of migration vis-à-vis its social costs, Reyes

stressed that migration is a process that affects those who move, those who stay behind, and the

places where they go to. “People have been on the move since human life began, (however)

migration is neither a new phenomenon, a failure of development, nor a substitute for

development," she said.

There are groups now that promote the welfare of migrant workers, who have been

calling on the government to provide gainful opportunities in the country so that Filipinos do not

have to seek jobs abroad. The number of unemployed Filipinos tells a sad story, as sad as the

stories of overseas Filipinos who long to be with their loved ones instead of tending in

distant lands.

But this is the story of many OFWs, who are millions scattered around the world. They

long to come home but for many of them, such a dream remains elusive. If it was not for their

families, they won’t be tending other far gardens anymore.

 References

Carbo, Nick. (1996) Returning a Borrowed Tongue: An Anthology of Filipino and Filipino
American Poetry. Minneapolis, MN: Coffee House Press.

Chua, R. (2016). Sustaining the Archipelago: An Anthology of Philippine Ecopoetry, University

of Santo Tomas Publishing House.

Fisher-Wirth, A., et a. (2013). The Ecopoetry Anthology. Trinity University Press.

Garrard, G. (2014). Images adequate to our Predicament: Ecology, Environment and Ecopoetics
Environmental Humanities, Vol. 5, 2014, pp. 35-53, ISSN: 2201-1919

Jones, D. (2015). Cited in Heck, L. A generation on edge: A look at millennials and mental
health. Retrieved from http://www.voxmagazine.com/news/features/a-generation-on-
edge-a-look-at-millennials-and-mental

Kirong, J., et al. (2014). Philippine Literature in English, Volume 2. First Edition. TechFactors,
Inc.

Lumbera, B. & Nograles-Lumbera, C. (1982). Philippine Literature: A History and an

Anthology. Manila: National Book Store.

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of-the-lumad