I must admit I did not give due attention to the words used by Nery Ronatay in his poems (see here and here). The same with the poems of M.I. (found here and here). I just felt them by the heart just like a melody that lulls a soul. Until somebody told me: Don’t you think that the latest poem of Nery is an X-rated one and needs parental guidance?

I laughed as I reread “An Mamotan sa Isog nin Kinaban“. Well, it appears really like one. I haven’t noticed it literally. Some sort of an “agimadmad” as defined in Rinconada. Maybe because I was carried away by the piece as I read it by the heart and not with the mind. Then I remember one of my early poems which was a result of the debate whether to ban the movie “Schindler’s List” or not. The piece is reproduced as follows:

The Art

One pic viewed by two pairs of eyes…
The first says negative, the second says otherwise…

The first demands the pic be banned
And made it disappear in the land,

But the second claims that it is an art
And therefore should not be torn apart.

Four eyes, two pairs, two arguments
That always assail us all;
That one day when suddenly we awaken
The pic’s price already soared.

Well ignorance costs less a penny
While education is priced more
But the core of the matter is this:
When is a pic an art? And when does it become a sore?

But before we end up reviving the debate, I would like to express my thanks to disciple-to-none for translating the rawit-dawits M.I. and Nery contributed. The links to the translations are as follows:

An mamotan sa isog nin kinaban

Sagkod Ngonyan

Nuarin Pa

Kung Sabihon Kong Dae na Ako Namomoot

Thanks for the translations DTN. Keep blogging.

• Tigsik o Rawit-dawit