top of page

P I C T U R E S   F R O M   B A T A N E S  •  5

IV. Sailing to Sabtang (con't)

II

Our earth legs and our behinds 

Were tested on the shore, straight

From the whitewashed mission church

That greeted us right at the port of Sabtang.

Atop a tiny pickup truck we climbed

And looped the island: The world ended

And began between Savidug and Chavayan:

 

What sea legs would one need

When the world fell to the left of the truck

And rose again to the right, the cut rock

Hanging above our heads, and the sea

Spinning around us in the clearest blue?

And the sun glaring from the zenith, and we

Were the still point of the turning world?

Batanes natives contemplating the aftermath of a more recent catastrophe, an earthquake that crumbled the once hardy limestone cliffs. Top right, Mt. Iraya in Basco. Alex Baluyot

BatanesNatives.jpg
Mt.Iraya&cliffs Basco AlexB.jpg

III

At three o’clock we left the foothold

Of port, the sheer drops of shale

And coral, to sail back to Batan.

Thefalua was populated half by back-

Packing natives on errands to the main

Island, and half by city slickers like us

On a jaunt, with our souvenirs and cameras.

 

At half past three the sea wowed us;

Before the afternoon ended it was battering us,

And we held on for dear life and souvenir,

Cradling under towels or plastic bag

Cell phone or camera, city accoutrement

Or tools of our trade, as the nonchalant natives

Eyed us, or pretended to ignore our predicament,

 

Or busied themselves with their light

Luggage—rolled blanket or rucksack or can

Of biscuit—they had come from or was going

On any day’s errand, they would sleep overnight

With a relative in Basco, or they were coming back

From Sabtang, and the roiling strait where

The China Sea and the Pacific met was all told

Really a ditch between this shore and that tangrib.

bottom of page