Alagad daw… (or why I envy Voltaire Oyzon)

I envy Voltaire Oyzon. I think I am more than a little jealous of him. He knows of what he writes, he owns the tool which he uses to write, his imagination knows no bounds, no hesitation, no fear.

Astig hi Voltaire. Diri ko ma-imagine kun gin ano niya pagbug-os hini nga mga siday, ngan maaram ako nga diri la ini asya it iya kaya suraton. No wonder, waray magruha-duha pag-translate para ha iya an makarit nga hi Merlie Alunan, ngan an iba pa nga up-and-coming writers, Janis Salvacion, Anna Laurice Jo, ngan Harvey Fiji, ngan an iba pa nga binmulig hini nga project.

Kamakauurit ni Voltaire. Kakakarit ni Voltaire. Grabe it imagination ni Voltaire. Grabe kay tungod nga kontrolado, pero malabad.

What I mean to say is, the imagination that the poems display in this collection is grounded in the only way that poems should be grounded: they create in the reader a secure and yet disconcerting feeling of being in touch with the a strange and yet knowable reality and with very personal sentiments. And, as a reader, you cannot help but feel very honored and privileged to be granted access to this writer’s reality and feelings, because the reality, rather, the realities that he offers, are rarely seen in Philippine poetry, perhaps because most of us cannot bear or afford to take stock of some of these realitie. Voltaire, on the other hand, stares at them, and engages in them, with eyes wide open, and with heart aflame. The realities that he offers are painful and beautiful. These are the realities of love and war, of globalization and ancient history, of poverty and natural wealth, of friendships and deaths. To say that what is most admirable about this collection is the emotional potency as well as the vulnerability of the poems, is to say that we are in the presence of a writer whose maturity is well beyond his years.

Umayon ako han tanan nga mga siday dinhi hini nga collection. Pero may mga special favorites ako. An akon mga paborito an mga siday nga may “conceit”, “wit”, “humor” ngan “irony”, an mga napabuyayaw, napa-tawa, napaurit, ngan napa-uga. May mga siday dinhi nga an trajectory han ira conciseness na-remind ha akon han mga metaphysical poets. May ada liwat mga poems nga napakalas an pagka postmodern nga iba nga klase, baga hin post-postmodern— mas matarom, mas “ironic”.

Gusto ko igtampalo ha mga napaka-postmodern na mga Filipino writers an iya “An Talipsay han Gugma” (“The Love Curve”), gusto ko iparayaw ha akon mga kilala nga writers na aktibista, ngan mga post-colonial nga kritiko, an iya simple, pero halarom ngan mapait nga “Didto ha Amon”, “Tawgi” ngan “Hi Salvador Magsusundalo” (Salvador will enter the Army”). May mga paborito ako, sugad han “Kan Toytoy pag-asoy han agsob nga karantahay ha ira balay”, nga diri ko gusto i-analyze hin duro, kay nadiri ako nga maruba. Instinctive it iya ginhuhugot nga response. Pa-uga ba. Siyempre, an title poem nga “An Maupay ha Mga Waray”, pa-uga liwat. Simple, bug-os hin duro, pero amo gihap, may trajectory nga napa-expand hit iya karuyag signgon, it iya meaningfulness diri contained.

Of course, if you do not speak or read Waray, some of the crispness, and the humor and irony, inherent in the sound of the original language are sometimes lost. But the translations are more than competent. In most cases, the translated versions stand on their own. The mere fact that Merlie Alunan did the translations for many of the poems here should be another big reason to get this book.

Pero an usa nga butang nga akon gud naayunan hini nga mga siday: an iya pulitika. The poems deal with such a wide range of subjects and emotions; they are carried by the various and varying voices of their speakers, but the politics of the entire collection is very stable, very clear. I will not name it. It is not for me to name it. It is enough for me that I see it. And I know you will too, and it will change you, when you read this book.

Nakaghuna-huna gud ako hin maupay kahuman ko pagbasa hini nga collection. Feeling ko bumaltok ako. Feeling ko may naabre nga gutiay nga bintana ha kalibutan, gutiay pero multifaceted, ngan importante hin duro, it “view” nga iya ginpapakita.

Alagad daw ano hi Voltaire. Kasumo. Kalabad. Kakarit.