What Makes a Literary Artist Worth His Salt

May. 20, 2015

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                 it​​atong 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.

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