[an error occurred while processing this directive] Ang Mata / The Eye
by Jose Mari Gotera

"The poem is rendered in tribal oral poetry a form common in filipino culture called "balagtasan." This is written in Tagalog language followed by its english translation. I presented this form in order not to lose its multicultural flavor."
Ang mata ng bagyo ay kidlat sa noo
Katulad ng bala ng kanyon
Huwag mong bombahin ang iyong baryo
Masakit man ang isipin sila pa rin ang kasiping
O di mo ba naririnig ang daing ng hangin
Ang kawayan di matutumba di maarya
Alisin mo ang hinagpis ng iyong panduduro
Sila ay kay Bathala na katulad mo
Bughaw man ang mata
Puti ang panlalantad mo
Ikaw pa rin ang iniibig
O ikaw na banyaga sa bayan mo
The eye of the storm is the thunder on your brow
But like a cannon shell
Please don't demolish your own barrio
Painful though it may be they are your bedfellows
O don't you hear the howling of the wind?
The bamboo thicker never breaks never falls
So wipe the tears of your ire
Just like you they too are from Bathala
Blue though your eyes may be
And white your skin
You are still the beloved
O you the stranger in your homeland

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