Yet another poem-in-progress :) The Kinalakian(s) were pre-Pangasinic amazons also known as the red-breasted warriors of princess Urduja. They practiced the so-called singgulo, an ancient martial arts using bolos (blades) and sticks made of wood or bamboo.
kinalakian
(or the women-warriors)
we haply remember the time
when you left your sons and lovers
to bear the arms and the burden
of the red-breasted warriors of Urduja
you never looked back from whence you came
the singgulo became your way of life
your names were battle cries on foughten fields
until your stories outlived your youth
one by one you drifted into oblivion
the last braids of locks were burnt
to honor the princess of the astern
the last blades and arrows were forged
to plow the heart of Caboloan
where your broken skulls and bones were sown
the prize you bartered with your breath and blood
that elusive dream you named freedom
when you returned into the womb of Eve
you gained immortality instead
histories were told and legends were born
yet we should have written some songs and poems
to remind us of the colour of your breasts
and the callous of your rose-ankled feet
kinalakian
(or the women-warriors)
we haply remember the time
when you left your sons and lovers
to bear the arms and the burden
of the red-breasted warriors of Urduja
you never looked back from whence you came
the singgulo became your way of life
your names were battle cries on foughten fields
until your stories outlived your youth
one by one you drifted into oblivion
the last braids of locks were burnt
to honor the princess of the astern
the last blades and arrows were forged
to plow the heart of Caboloan
where your broken skulls and bones were sown
the prize you bartered with your breath and blood
that elusive dream you named freedom
when you returned into the womb of Eve
you gained immortality instead
histories were told and legends were born
yet we should have written some songs and poems
to remind us of the colour of your breasts
and the callous of your rose-ankled feet
Comments