Poetry

(The Language of the Soul Expressed)

The most moving poem conveys of joys and feelings of grief profound; the most sublime tells of values and heroism; the most ridiculous needs yet to be found…
Poems cover as much as anything there is in life as it speaks of happiness and humor; pains and pathos in sufferings; wonders and discoveries; death and birth; creation and destruction… even dreams and realities. Some meanings are obvious in the words but often
the essence is behind the lines that the poet wrote.
During Medieval period when the people’s inclination to the arts were curtailed poems dealt mostly with ‘the good, the true or the Divine… At the dawn of the Renaissance Era, poetry found its niche in the hearts of men concerned with the aesthetic side of the human nature. Poems were written to entertain the ladies and gentlemen in the royal court as much as they were on paper to express their feelings, whatever it may be, to someone without being vulgar about it.
Poems are mysterious articulation of the deep innate thoughts and feelings of the writer as it makes an impact to those who understand. However, they become just cluster of words to those who do not follow the implication. What about the wrong grammar of some? It’s alright. There’s what we call a ‘poetic license’. Anyway, poetry is just as magical in its limited number of words as they come in any form even as those who do not have equal meters and those which do not rhyme at all. Below are some poems I happen to pool together from the files of the children at home. These were written in the Hiligaynon dialect by some known poets and others by names I haven’t encountered before. My apologies to these poets but beautiful lines have to be read, so here are some. The one below may seem funny but behind it is a message that its writer implies.The poem is written by Mel Turao.


Ang Ginamus Ni Gloria

Mapino maghimu Kang ginamus si Gloria
Ginadungan
Sa paglumos kang adlaw
Sa kabukiran
Ang paghugas kang madalum
Mahigku nga lusong.

Pailigan
Kang labaab nga tubig
Banyusan kang maputi
Nga algodon
Ang madamol nga bibig
Kag hapluson
Ang madanlog nga kilid
Nagapisik pa ang hipon
Lab-as
Halin sa balaon
Pudyuton
Simhutan kag usapon.

Nagahining ang hal-o
Mabug-at
Nagahulat
Himu sa pitugo
Magadunot kag magabayo

Nagasamu sa dapya
Ang marimis kag
malangsa
Nga bahu kang tinago
Ni Gloria
Nagaagda
Sa Nagaagi
Hilabi ron gid
Sa lalaki
Nga nagataboy ang bulsa
Sa kuarta.
                                                        
Some poems convey just one message, others have double meaning... Yet, others write in a simple language but the meaning eludes the readers at times. The gist change too as it is interpreted by an individual reader according to the dominant feeling that grips him. Take a look at the poem by Sara Teasdale. Poets may speak of love or death in their special way that the reader sees the enchantment rather than the gore.

The Look                                            
                                       
I made you many and many a song
But never one told who you are
It was as if a net of words
Were flung to catch a star
It was as if I curved my hand
And dipped sea water eagerly
Only to find it lost the blue
Dark splendor of the sea.

   Those who use the pen and paper to express it bring into play words that entice one to enter the realm of the world of imaginations. Those who use poetry to verbalize ideas and emotions persuade the listeners by appealing to the beauty that lies in the heart of each man.
Each one of us is a poet and our life is the greatest art we all write... though it may take someone else to inscribe it, we are still the poets living out a poem so complex that changes with the times. Yet, most people say that poems are written best when the poet is in the extremes of feelings - be it love, hatred, joy or sorrow…  Let our poems; therefore, be one that give inspiration as it spread smiles.