Baboy

by Allan Popa

Malalasap pagbigkas ng baboy kung bakit baboy

ang mababasaging alkansiyang hindi nagawang

mapabigat bagamat matabang-mataba sa iyong palad.

Pinakinggan mo ang pag-alog sa kahungkagan

ng iilang sensilyong naihulog sa mabintog na tiyan,

tiningala’t sinilip ang dilim sa napakakitid na butas.

Matatandaang ito ang gulang ng pagtuklas ng sarap

sa pagtuklap ng langib ng papahilom na sugat.

Nakapaglalaway, nakapangingiwi ng mga labi

ang pagsungkit, pagkupit ng pilak mula sa sarili

na mariing maikukuyom sa nangangati mong palad.

Malalasap pagbigkas ng baboy kung bakit baboy.

Pig

by Allan Popa

Savor as you say the word pig, why

it is a pig, this coin bank

you cannot for all its size make heavy.

You listen as you jangle the handful inside

its hollow distended belly, the teats you tilt

to peer past the chink into the dark,

remembering when you first discovered

what pleasure picking on a scab gave you.

You bite your lip to hold the drool in.

You try to snatch at the shiny silver, picking

your own pockets for all that you can

hog, and savor why, as you say the word, pig.

translated from Filipino by Mabi David & Allan Popa

Allan Popa is the author of ten collections of poetry, including Drone (Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2013) and Laan (De La Salle University Publishing House, 2013). He has received the Philippines Free Press Literary Award and the Manila Critics Circle National Book Award. He teaches at the Filipino Department of Ateneo de Manila University and is currently the Director of Ateneo Institute of Literary Arts and Practices (AILAP).

Mabi David is a freelance writer and researcher. Her first full-length book of poems, You Are Here, was published in 2009 by High Chair. Her chapbook, Unto Thee, appeared in 2005. She is also one of the authors of Rafflesia of the Philippines, a story about the hunt for (and discovery of) this rare parasitic plant, and the Filipino botanists involved in its conservation. She was a former Deputy Director of the University of the Philippines Press and Head of the Research Department of the Filipinas Heritage Library. Her new book of poems, Spleen, was released by High Chair in 2014.

Allan Popa is the author of ten collections of poetry, including Drone (Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2013) and Laan (De La Salle University Publishing House, 2013). He has received the Philippines Free Press Literary Award and the Manila Critics Circle National Book Award. He teaches at the Filipino Department of Ateneo de Manila University and is currently the Director of Ateneo Institute of Literary Arts and Practices (AILAP).