Poetry-Tula-Etc

Crossing the bar by Alfred Lord Tennyson

2010-12-20T02:33:00.000-08:00

Crossing the bar
Sunset and evening star,
And one clear call for me!
And may there be no moaning of the bar,
When I put out to sea,

But such a tide as moving seems asleep,
Too full for sound and foam,
When that which drew from out the boundless deep
Turns again home.

Twilight and evening bell,
And after that the dark!
And may there be no sadness of farewell,
When I embark;

For through from out our bourne of Time and Place
The flood may bear me far,
I hope to see my Pilot face to face
When I have crossed the bar.

- Alfred Lord Tennyson

NOTE: I watched a new BBC series, Britain in Bike today and the highlights of the program is cycling around the Isle of Wight - southern part of England (near Southampton). The island is stunning for nature lovers and there are prominent writers in the past that the island influenced them on their writings. For instance, Charles Dickens, author of A Christmas Carol also visited the island and rented a house (Winterbourne) to write his novels, David Copperfield; including Alfred Lord Tennyson that wrote this poem while travelling by boat from mainland (Lmington) to Yarmouth. Farringford is the residence of Tennyson in the island and he was also appointed as Baron of Freshwater.

On Growing Old by John Masefield

2010-12-15T23:24:00.000-08:00

On Growing Old
Be with me, Beauty, for the fire is dying;
My dog and I are old, too old for roving.
Man, whose young passion sets the spindrift flying,
Is soon too lame to march, too cold for loving.
I take the book and gather to the fire,
Turning old yellow leaves; minute by minute
The clock ticks to my heart. A withered wire,
Moves a thiun ghost of music in the spinet.
I cannot sail your seas, I cannot wander
Your cornland, nor your hill-land, nor your valleys
Ever again, nore share the battle yonder
Where the young knight the broken squadron rallies.
Only stay quiet while my mind remembers
The beauty of fire from the beauty of embers.

Beauty, have pity! for the strong have power,
The rich their wealth, the beautiful their grace,
Summer of man its sunlight and its flower.
Spring-time of man, all April in a face.
Only, as in the jostling in the Strand,
Where the mob thrusts, or loiters, or is loud,
The beggar with the saucer in his hand
Asks only a penny from the passing crowd,
So, from this glittering world with all its fashion,
Its fire, and play of men, its stir, its march,
Let me have wisdom, Beauty, wisdom and passion,
Bread to the soul, rain when the summers parch.
Give me but these, and though the darkness close
Even the night will blossom as the rose.

- John Masefield

Guni-guni ng isang kahapon

2009-12-13T19:30:00.000-08:00

Isang musmos . . .
walang kamuwang-muwang sa buhay
sa magulo at mapaghamong daigdig
di pinapansin ang dumaraang araw, taon
takbo rito, lakad doon,
walang nadaramang pagod.

Sa mga sandaling yon . . .
tagamasid ang mairuging ama't ina
minamasdan ang tagapagmana
ng maiiwang yaman nila.

Di naglaon . . .
isang matangkad, payat na kaanyuan
ang matatanaw sa di kalayuang lugar
doon sa kanto, kasama ang barkada
walang inaatupag kundi: alak, sugal, sigarilyo at . . .

Pangaral at bilin ng yumaong magulang
lahat-lahat ay nawalang kabuluhan
pinabayaan ang pag-aaral
na tanging gabay ng kanyang hiram na buhay
minabuti pa ang maging palaboy
at magpakaligaya nang walang kabuluhan!

Sana . . .
bukas pa ang kahapon
disin sana'y naiwasan ang mga pangyayari ngayon
maibalik ang masasayang araw -
ang kahapon na magbibigay ng pag-asa
pag-asa sa kanyang kinabukasan.

Paano ngayonng wala na sila
ang mga nagmamalasakit, nag-alala sa kanya
lalung-lalo na sa oras ng kagipitna
kung maibalik lamang ang nakaraan
hindi ganito ang kanyang kasasapitan
sana . . . bukas pa ang kahapon!

Mangarap? (Dreaming?)

2009-11-01T13:58:00.000-08:00

MANGARAP?

Paano mangarap ang dakilang dukha?
Wika nga nila’y isang
kahig ’sang tuka
Sa masalimuot na sandaigdigan
Tanging anak-pawis nitong
sambayanan.

Paano mangarap ang taong mayaman?
Lahat ng kailanga’y
nasa paanan
Alahas, pera, damit, at mga pagkain
Samakatuwid walang
alalahanin.

Paano ba mangarap ang isang mangmang?
Di nakapag-aral
nang mataas na antas
Upang iguhit sariling kapalaran
Ngayon, bukas, sa
taun-taong daraan.

Paano mangarap ang may kapansanan?
Sa kanyang
katawan, kanyang kaisipan
Kung tutuusin, walang silbing nilalang
Bagama’t sila’y bahagin ng lipunan.

Paano ba mangarap ang mga ulila?
Walang nag-aalaga’t nag-aaruga
Maga ambisyon sa panaginip na lamang
Buong tatanggapin ang kahihinatnan.

Laging nakikintal sa puso’t
isipan …
Panahong nakalaan – ang kinabukasan
Ang mga pangarap,
maisakatuparan
Ang buong tagumpay nawa’y makakamtan

In your presence...

2009-10-10T18:55:00.000-07:00

In your presence...
i feel your breathe of comfort
easing the pain from my worldly desire
and everything turns fine.

In your presence...
i feel your forgiveness
giving me another chance to try
do more thngs worth living -
and able to forget the hurt feelings.

In your presence...
i found PEACE that everyone's looking for
calmness and quietness of mind -
and openness to face the world with pride.
i found HOPE a single sound that conquers all
the promise of the future's beginning
and i found LOVE - a golden word that brings
joy to my weary heart.

yesterday, today and tomorrow...

2009-07-29T04:18:00.000-07:00

YESTERDAY is a good place to visit,
while TODAY is a better place to stay
but TOMORROW is the best place to go!

(Filipino translation)

Ang KAHAPON ay mabuting pook na puntahan,
at ang NGAYON ay lalong magandang pook na lumagi,
ngunit ang BUKAS ay mas higit na magandang pook na marating.

About everything...

2009-07-22T04:22:00.000-07:00

The true rule, in determining to embrace, or reject any thing, is not whether it have any evil in it; but whether it have more of evil, than of good. There are few things wholly evil, or wholly good.Abraham Lincoln