mothermats day, article in press

the women's month  slash gender themed march-april issue of u.p. forum shall, hopefully, be in print this coming week. my article is about tandang sora and mothers and related matters. it shall also have illustrations of yours truly. one that i'd like to call LGTButterfly, another a yinyang thing.

meanwhile, an advanced happy mothermats day to you

 

 and to your moms and to those who assume the role of mothers. [20:00 update:]

[mothers' day, may 13, 10:00 update--submitted this somewhere. would update this post and hyperlink if they choose to publish it. sharing this, anyway. opted to place mothers' day things in one post. stating the obvious.][btw, read "the radical history of mother's day" here.]


Ang Oyayi ni Inang
malayang salin ni Tilde Acuña ng tula ni Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Bumabangon ako sa bukang-liwayway, lumuluhod at umiihip
Hanggang umandap-andap at magbaga ang binhi ng apoy;
At kailangan kong mag-isis at mag-luto at mag-walis
Hanggang magsimulang kumurap at sumulyap ang mga bituin;
At humihimbing at nananaginip ang mga musmos sa banig
Habang suot nila ang lampin at tila magkakaternong damit,
At matapos nilang palipasin ang buong araw
At bumuntong-hininga tuwing humahangin:
Habang nagbabanat ako ng buto dahil ako’y may edad na,
At nanlalata at nanlalamig ang binhi ng apoy.

***

The Song Of The Old Mother [source]

I rise in the dawn, and I kneel and blow
Till the seed of the fire flicker and glow;
And then I must scrub and bake and sweep
Till stars are beginning to blink and peep;
And the young lie long and dream in their bed
Of the matching of ribbons for bosom and head,
And their day goes over in idleness,
And they sigh if the wind but lift a tress:
While I must work because I am old,
And the seed of the fire gets feeble and cold.

[may 14, lunchtime update: the philippine literary folio published the translation. muli, maraming salamat po.]