The world has been witnessed to the glitter of names in the literary art’s “hall of fame”, heretofore known as men and women of letters. They are people dedicated to the creation of literature. They make it their vocation to craft a world of aesthetic reality using words as medium. These are the poets, the fictionists, the essayists and a host of other creative writers. I take the poet as subject of this discourse.
The poet—magbabalak in Cebuano, makata in Tagalog— resides in two universes: the universe in his soul and the universe of his external environment. The external universe that envelops his physical existence consists of the diverse creations of Nature or the natural material world [his fellow humans included] and the immensity of the boundless cosmos.
One looks up to the heavens and the limits of his vision is the vast limitless space. And if one closes his eyes and plumbs his inward eyesight into the depths of his interior self, he finds his subjective experiences, his thoughts and feelings, are bottomless. There’s just no way one can measure the breadth and depth of his thoughts and imagination, nor can he fathom the intensity of his feeling or emotion.
Indeed, it is impossible to measure one’s subjectivity, but there are spaces occupied by some emotion or feeling in the domain of one’s heart or soul. And this feeling can be given dimensions through the vehicle of language or verbal expression. One can transport his feeling or emotion to the outside world by means of images in words and share them with fellow humans who can now perceive this feeling or emotion in the form of utterance or verbal constructs. One’s stirring within his soul has no way of manifesting itself in the outside world other than by way of human expression.
Such is the function of verbal utterances that take particular shape and dimensions of meaning in the artistic garb of poetry. And poetry, as a specialized form of verbal expression, is simply one of the wondrous inventions—a aesthetic vehicle, a customized carriage [a karwahe] that effectively delivers the impenetrable, imperceptible happening within one’s subjective universe to the external the world . The poem can be likened to a horse-driven chariot of the gods in one’s inner world that carries the message of the mind or the heart for the perception of the outside world of humans. Any disturbance of the soul—any event in one’s intellectual explorations or subjective adventures—may be packaged in an extraordinary fashion such that it presents as a spectacle that renders favorable reception and response—nay, recognition and applause by fellow humans. Sympathy and empathy are an operation of the intellect and the heart that share in the rare splendor of poetic outburst. And the appreciation of its meaningfulness becomes a shared adventure, an internalization of the experience in the poem.
Take this one sentimental disaffection in the realm of a poet’s soul — a rebellion in sarcasm. . .
a lengua menu potaheng dil a
let us celebrate this menu saulogon natokining po taheng
dished out from the cooking pot hinukad gikan sa bagol- bagol lutoanan
of our wisdom and stupidity sa atong kaalam u g kakwanggol
been some time we have stewed taudtaod na baya nato ng gilat-an
this meat which is our favorite kining unod nga ato ng naibgan
above all others we’ve known labaw kay sa tanang ka rneng nailhan
we have perpetually added water kanunay natong gisabwa n nga dili
so its broth will always simmer mahubsan sa nagbukal- bukal nga gugma
with devotion and untiring practice ug way kaluyang pag bansay-bansay
we’ve faithfully guarded it, fueled itatong gi-apongan, gisugno ran
our ego we’ve constantly flattered atong kaugalingon giulog-ulogan
that we could readily cook this meat nga sayon ra kining kar neha lutoon
we delight so much in our skill nahimuot tag maayo sa atong katakos
is ecstasy enough to have sipped himaya na para nato a ng makahigop
the soup of its wonder sa sabaw sa iyang pa gka katingalahan
but now our jaw cramps with the pero karon namikog atong apapangig
chewing of this tough-as-rubber pag-inusap k ay hunit pa sa goma
but most adored alien tongue kining gipangga tang langyawng dila.
The “quill” which has been known as the symbol of this class of people called literary artists—the poet most particularly—is a weapon that ensues from a mandate the nature of which conforms with the individual writer’s world outlook—his weltanschaung. Every thrust made by the writer of his quill is in pursuance of tasks dictated by such mandate. He always wields his weapon in more or less strict adherence to how he has shaped his thoughts according to his view of reality. He does not swerve from the path of the ideals and principles upheld by his world view. He is ever faithful to the commanding sway of his passion as he tackles the requirements of his art. He writes even as he lives in the reality of what he writes.
And the reality that he creates in his literary craft is a symbolic representation of the reality he constantly fashions and celebrates in his subjective world. Such is the reality of his innermost desires, his loftiest aspirations, his noblest dreams. Glory be the energy and momentum of his passion towards the fulfillment of his vision for a fully humanized humankind. Just like the billows caused by the force of this creativedisruption –
new millennium kiss halok sa bag-ong mileny o
I witness rains saksi ako
powder the earth sa pagdugmok
like beads of fire sa ulan sa yuta
melted on cheeks ingog mga lusok sa kalayo
and breast of history nalanay sa mga api ng
ug dughan sa kasaysayan
swamp supplications naanod mga pangaliyupo
of grasses and herbs sa mga sagbot ug mga tanom
seeds and buds of forests mga liso’g mga put ot sa lasang
are swept by laments naangin sa pagmahay ng
unleashed—collected heaviness gipabuhagay—natigom nga kabug-at
hung in sky nagyungyong sa langit
dammed curses nabiawng mga pagbati
that darken the breast nagdag-om sa dughan
history, oh kasaysayan, ay
if screeching sun kun ang sidlak sa adlaw
kindles the cries mosilab sa suliyaw
grumbling waters yagubyob sa mga tubig
in arteries of earth sa mga ugat sa yuta ug
and deep of seas kahiladman sa mga dagat
commune magduyog
comes a kiss modangat ang halok
no syllable way usa ka litok
clacks in lips sa ngabil mayamyam
nor roar of heart ni daguok sa kasing kasing
precludes makasagang.
