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On this day in 2004

I wrote the following Pangasinan sonnet for Nick Joaquin , Philippine National Artist for Literature (1976). sonito 135 (para ed si Nick Joaquin) abual lamet so sakey a lusek ed Parthenon na litiratura balet nisulat la ed awaran so pirma na ngaran to'd panaon dia ed intunda na talakatak na makinilia'd sokung na silir mareen ya asumpal so egpang ed sangput ya tekap na kombilay tan dia ed iyurong to'd Parnasu bilang kabiangan da'ra'y imortal ya umaanlong tan sumusulat malugor ira'y musian ontewek angga'd natoor lamet so sipan na ipawil to'd laman na adan

Pista’y Dayat 2007

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The Province of Pangasinan will be celebrating this year’s Pista’y Dayat (Sea Festival) from April 25 to May 1, 2007. From its simple beginning in the seventies as a thanksgiving celebration by the fisher folk for God’s blessings, Pista’y Dayat has become an annual tradition and a major tourism event showcasing the best of Pangasinan culture, talents and products through colorful and festive trade and cultural activities. On of the highlights of the celebration is the “Bali-Balin Pangasinan Tour,” featuring the well-known Matalunggaring Dance Troupe of PSU– Bayambang Campus on stage tour to showcase the different traditional dances and songs of the province. This will be held on April 29, 2007 at 8:00 in the evening at the Capitol Plaza in Lingayen.

On this day in 2005

The following poem was reviewed by Simon DeDeo (on his blog Rhubard is Susan). Check the podcast posts to listen to the audiocast. Swansong of the Sea that night i heard the swansong of the sea the erolalias of nameless lovers stealing a heaven and eternity there was a crysong of a pilgrim bird that punctuated the silence of the night but the winds and the waves whispered a hush i waited for the waking of the day feeling the breathing of the earth beneath the palpitations of the Milky Way then Atlas moved a finger and it came the gyrations and the sudden trembling O the sea had wings of a tsunami! death came without warning or a reason to those who heard the psalms of oblivion and then i heard the swansong of the sea... and the crysongs of those who went away Review This poem rests uneasily between memorial and epic (I exhort you to go to Villafania's piece, from which this is an excerpt.) As a poem standing at the beginning of a longer piece, it exudes history and tradition, and, ...

Unpoemed

you unpoemed me on these empty pages because i am a child of the orient too proud of my colour & brown English because i am the salt of all races who'd indubitably make a statement you unpoemed me on these empty pages here i am with swastikan images poet-regionnaire i am my own movement too proud of my colour & brown English i am all poetry O Grecian Muses because you don't understand what i meant you unpoemed me on these empty pages i am the aristos of the ages the one without oneness they called ancient too proud of my colour & brown English i too am one of the many-voices because i am bright & indifferent you unpoemed me on these empty pages too proud of my colour & brown English

Murtami 5

(song for the lovers) this is how you hold pierce & punctuate the sound & the fury of poetry upon eve's sweet surprise lick her lyric lips nibble her nipples until they burn                           & turn into pebbles or pearls listen O listen to the breathlessness of her being & yearnings so dovely a deity or a demoness possessed when her virginal verbs expires & explodes into a universe of gametic alphabets & primitive numbers behold her algebraic expressions as she transforms from damsel into a roseate dawn so wantonly a woman                                      she is a pure particle the very substance of the soul

Myth of Andibaing°

the sea was her demesne this sweet & cruel goddess accursed by Apolaki° for not setting her crimson feet on the sacred ground of Caboloan° & now she lingers where her first blood dropped like fire pearls sighs before a touch folds before a kiss of the rain & sun green serpentine but a flowering wildgrass that grows in boondocks in the backwoods or brae waiting for a poet or a fool to pluck her like a rose ° Andibaing - Makahiya plant (Mimosa pudica) ° Apolaki - Supreme deity in Pangasinan mythology ° Caboloan - ancient name of Pangasinan (interior area)

Repost: Prelude to Redemption

much younger now we the poets of the brave new race killing each other with manufactured nuts and bolts we are a generation of serpent-tongues and x y z impatient with the oldspeak of post & neo-modernism our poems consumable fast-foods bonsaic haunted by memories of punctuations and histories of metres and rhymes we live our lives in penthouses of Ivory Towers reaching it through a backdoor we are the shadows of the elders we stabbed to death chewed and spewed the pages of their soul to paint a translucent image of our selves to sign our signatures in time and redeem our Adamhood

Pasingayew, prologo tan ipilogo na librok a Malagilion: Sonnets tan Villanelles

No ikorit ko so dilin bilay-awaran, sarayan sinoniton anlong so mangiparungtal na pangitatalindeg ko ed ibulaslas na Parnasun Pangasinan. Karaklan ed sarayan anlong et nipaakar ed pangitatanduro na salita, pamalayug na kultura ed luyag tan pamaoli ed Pangasinan bilang sakey a litirarion lingguahi. Nipaakar met irayan anlong ed pakdaar ya inaon ed tongtong, tagaumen, uliran tan awaran ya inimsay ed talaagewan odino diurnal. Katatdang na komaduan milinio, say kuritan o litiraturan Pangasinan et wala la ed tambib na d(ibolusion), bangbalet, balbaleg so pananisiak ya ag iya bengat lan nabalang odino naandi legan ya wala ni’ra’y sumusulat tan umaanlong a matoor so pililikna ed tawir tan abangonan a salita. Masurin tua ya say bilay na salita et wala ed mabunan litiratura. prologo (para ed say Ulupan na Pansiansia’y Salitan Pangasinan tan saray mansusulat ed abangonan a salita) isibuag tayo’d intiron luyag saksakey akup a binin bokel no wala’y ontubo ed saraya itanem ed mabuna ya dalin pian ...

Villanelle 24: Manangali ed Ibali

dia ed pilimog to ed karaklan balegan to’y tepel na linawa awiran to’y kalkalar na dalan biskeg to’y kakapuyan na laman a makasugat na kamarerua dia ed pilimog to ed karaklan banwa to’y baley a katakelan no iner mapalion ira’y lupa awiran to’y kalkalar na dalan anggapo la’y amta ton takotan no ag ta say dilin inkapalsa dia ed pilimog to ed karaklan sempen to’y lakap da’ra’y lawanan ed labi ‘ran singa ag mangangga awiran to’y kalkalar na dalan anggan maatap so kawalaan wala’y balon agew ya ontangwa dia ed pilimog to ed karaklan awiran to’y kalkalar na dalan

Rekindled

there’s a rice-pounding song tonight playing somewhere not too distant the hunter’s moon bathe in all her glory unconcealing the primeval dance of the gathering where the reapers offer what they have sown to the goddess of the earth and planting i hear their silent chanting and singing the last of the Tumatagaumen with his uncouth orison commencing the rhythmic gyrations - the quickening i see them all                         glistening flesh and worn ere the embers consumed its own breathing they touched me not softly with rememb’ring this pagan ritual     this primal passion but the bardic voice within my being there’s a rice-pounding song tonight playing somewhere not too distant the reaper’s moon will embrace my adamhood arising they will hear me scream my poems of hunting

Repost: Sonito 15

say balatabat na kareenan binmabalitok la ed letakan say ampasiseng ya kapageyan onsasayiao ed hambayo’y dagem mantawag ira’y limgas na dayat singawey na laineng ed baybay dangwan tan danglay a kakansionen da’ra’y sankaili ‘ran anuyiao wala ‘ra’y gikgik mangalimpana mapalayug singa bagabagan babanbantulen da’ra’y ogugaw a manpaypayaret ed liket da inlirep ko’d daan a butakan buabuabuen na ag pakalingwan

Makata Vol.8: April Issue

Makata Issue No.4 , April 2007 is now available online featuring the works of our home-grown and international poets. Poetry by Aurora Antonovic, Luis Cuauhtemoc Berriozabal, Kristina V. Cajipe, Rachel Chan Suet Kay, Dennis Espada, Manuel Lino G. Faelnar, Tammy Ho Lai-ming, Jake F. Ilac, Alexander Martin Remollino, and Camilo M Villanueva Jr. Send all submissions / contributions for Volume 8 March 2007 issue to svillafania at yahoo [dot] com and to Jason Chancoco at tarusan22 at yahoo [dot] com (for Tagalog/Filipino & Bikol poetry). Also accepting poems written in other Philippine languages: Cebuano, Iluko, Hiligaynon, Waray, Kapampangan, Pangasinan, etc.

Villanelle 17: INRI

(Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum) nen inatey so binin salita binmilonget so sansinakuban atoor so parles da’y propita inmagos sanakablian ya daan naorasan ira’y karumsisan nen inatey so binin salita nilaknaban na ilem so talba kauyos na bilay ed kabalgan atoor so parles da’y propita ambelat so agew a tinmangwa nen atiguay so komaduan Adan nen inatey so binin salita nalgep ed odiem so inkapalsa bangta maligsa ira’y duksaan atoor so parles da’y propita dia’d ngoro’y pasak iran maruksa agawa’y wala ed kasulatan nen inatey so binin salita atoor so parles da’y propita

Villanelle 16

gala O musia na panangaro tambayo’y naandin pililikna tanila’y lakseb ya ilalam ko leksab ka’d nipugaron parnasu tan ipanengneng so inkasika gala O musia na panangaro penepenek mo so pakarngel ko na sonito odino sonata tanila’y lakseb ya ilalam ko pilalek ka ya ontalintao singa limgas-dayat o danaya gala O musia na panangaro dengel mo so kuyab tonia’y puso wala’y no anton ag to nibaga tanila’y lakseb ya ilalam ko ed sakey ya aplos o lakap mo natoor so piaet ko ed bekta gala O musia na panangaro tanila’y lakseb ya ilalam ko

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I am using blogspot.com (Blogger's free hosting service) again. Thanks to blogger's latest feature where you could point or redirect your Blog*Spot address to your custom domain. Accesskey assignments: » Home [1] » Profile [U] » Makata [M] » RSS [R] » Contact [W] Blogger and/or blogspot.com do not have accessibility features yet. Indubitably, XHTML and CSS validation on this site will definitely fail.

Anto so Kakanaan na Sakey ya Umaanlong a Pangasinan?

Para angan ko ed saray oala ni ed kalangoeran ya naubol so ulo ra ed aoiran no iner say uusaren a salita et Filipino tan English, nayarin anggapo. Ompano ag da labat la naparlasan na linggis ira’y sulsulat da’ra’y pigpigaran umaanlong ed luyag. Say makasengeg, anggapo’y pililikna la na tobunbalo ed abangonan ya salita. Sakey ni, ag da aaralen, panaaralan tan inaral so salitan Pangasinan ed impapaletneg iran aoiran tan unibersidad. Naandi ira’y umaanlong tayo a singa no kaoayan ed datin Caboloan. Anggaman ontan, nampanaon so salita tan litiraturan Pangasinan ed lima da’ra’y zarzuelista a manlapu ed si Pablo Mejia angga ed say nobilistan si Maria Magsano. Limamplon taon so apalabas insan lamet binmaltaw ira’y pluma da’ra’y sumusulat ed taoir a salita. Bangbalet asagmak ira natan ed mairap a kipapasen ta aliing tan abangon ira ed panaon da’ra’y kailalakan ya oala’y siping a dila. Anggapo la’y dengel na sakey ya alindaoay ya umaanlong ta pilatek ni na karaklan ira’y sumusulat ed bayes a di...

Makata is fresh!

Makata Issue No.3 , March 2007 is now available online featuring the works of our home-grown and international poets. Poetry by Aurora Antonovic, Luis Cuauhtemoc Berriozabal, Zig Madamba Dulay, Dennis Espada, CW Hawes, Iliana Ilieva, Rachel Chan Suet Kay, Phillip Kimpo Jr., Noel Malicdem, Anthony Pabon, Rositza Pironska, Alexander Martin Remollino, Maricar Reynaldo, Rey Tamayo, Jr. and Robert D. Wilson. Send all submissions / contributions for Volume 8 April 2007 issue to svillafania at yahoo [dot] com and to Jason Chancoco at tarusan22 at yahoo [dot] com (for Tagalog/Filipino & Bikol poetry). Also accepting poems written in other Philippine languages: Cebuano, Iluko, Hiligaynon, Waray, Kapampangan, Pangasinan, etc.

"Disabled-friendly" website award

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The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), National Computer Center - Commission on Information and Communication Technology (NCC-CICT), Vision Office Support Services, Limited and the National Council for the Welfare of Disable Persons (NCWDP) awarded a plaque of recognition to Santiago B. Villafania for his selfless contribution to make their website “disabled-friendly”, to inspire best practices and improve access of the public including persons with disabilities to Emilio Aguinaldo College 's programs and services of/for persons with disabilities aimed at opening up various opportunities for them to the fullest extent possible. The award was given during the closing ceremonies of DSWD-sponsored seminar “Regional Focal Persons on Accessible ICT for Persons with Disabilities” on Thursday, February 22, 2007, in Summer Place Hotel, Baguio City. The EAC website has been certified by the Philippine Web Accessibility Group (PWAG), as of 8 December 2006, as accessible aft...

Sonnet To A Pilgrim Soul

When the sun gilds the sky in the morning And deep darkness makes a noble retreat O hear the music in the air fleeting For you can never recapture the beat When the morning spreads her warm golden wings And the sapphire sky is wordlessly deep Look yonder and feast with your eyes the things Which you seldom see in your dreamful sleep Don’t you feel forlorn beloved pilgrim If the world will mind your lowly a state A time will come when their eyes will grow dim And they too will fall on our self-same fate An empty shell to decay into dust When our days in the sun come into past (My first poem ritualized in print. Published in the Philippine Panorama, 1993)

Dr. Marot Nelmida-Flores on Santiago Villafania’s Balikas ed Caboloan

Pangasinan poetic tradition has seen rebirth in the verses of Mr. Santiago Villafania. While the anlong (Pangasinan poetry) as oral literature has always been part of Pangasinan folk life, as literary genre, it had its golden years in the vernacular magazine Silew only from 1934 to 1943. Subsequent publications gave more space to short stories and serialized novels. In the 1970s, the local magazine Traveler became an outlet for Pangasinan poetry in English except for a few bilingual writers who dabbled both in English and in the vernacular. In recent times, vernacular writers dwindled in number as more and more Pangasinan writers educated and exposed to foreign literatures and periodicals shifted to English. Literary tradition in the province such as the anlong (poetry) and tongtong (narratives) has yet to be given form and structure after having been interrupted by the valorized meta-narratives and canons from the West. With Villafania’s poetry in the vernacular, the Pangasinan anl...