Papa wrote:
I Shall Come To You
When the scented night has fallen
And the branches droop with the dew –
When your heart is filled with longing,
Dream, and I shall come to you.
I shall come to you when raindrops
Patter on the window-panes,
And a tender mem’ry, ghost-like,
Haunts the old, forgotten lanes.
I shall come to you on tiptoe
On the carpet of your room --
And surprise you with my kisses
Trembling softly in the gloom!
-- Abelardo Subido
Mommy wrote:
Filipina
You wonder why my feelings
For you, my love, are sung,
And never plainly phrased by
The unaffecting tongue.
It is because my passions
Are restless, rash, and strong --
To native sense immodest
Unless expressed in song.
I have made Speech and Song,
I have tried Silence, too,
But all interpret ill the thoughts
My heart would speak to you.
A motion of the hand, perhaps,
Half-wanton, half-withholding,
And such a smile, and such a glance,
Would best be love's unfolding --
Meaning that while my sentiments
Have need of more than word,
I dare not by a brazen move
Displease you, lord.
-- Trinidad Tarrosa
I wrote:
emotions in motion
did you feel the quake last night
it came as I was imagining you
rocking me hard
thrusting your love
deep into my soul
it felt so real
the earth shook
tilting on its axis
falling like my heart
for you
planet heaving
mountain breasts
belly flatlands
thighs spreadcollapsing the chosen hero
in the fault that lay between
hearts in upheaval
dreams in streams
flowing subducting amplifying
molten core flowing
landscapes changing
lives intertwining
folding you into me
fossilized into eternity
-- Maya Tarrosa Subido Walker
2 comments:
Very nice translations. Interesting how you put the three poems together like that. I like them very much, including your unshy one. Thanks for sharing!
The first two are your parents' poems? How lovely. I remember you sharing the third poem with me when you were in your new V-town abode. It's still one of my favorites. You are fortunate to inherit literary gifts.
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