Poetry&Stuffby
MARNE KILATES
MARNE
S
KRIPTS
from
Antinostalgia & the Tokhang
Rhapsodies
from
Antinostalgia & the Tokhang
Rhapsodies
From Mga Biyahe, Mga Estasyon
From Journeys, Junctions
(a collection of travel poems)
from
Antinostalgia & the Tokhang
Rhapsodies
Poems 2022
Poems 2022
Poems 2022
Poems 2022
From Mga Biyahe, Mga Estasyon
From Journeys, Junctions
(a collection of travel poems)
From Mga Biyahe, Mga Estasyon
From Journeys, Junctions
(a collection of travel poems)
From Mga Biyahe, Mga Estasyon
From Journeys, Junctions
(a collection of travel poems)
From Mga Biyahe, Mga Estasyon
From Journeys, Junctions
(a collection of travel poems)
From Mga Biyahe, Mga Estasyon
From Journeys, Junctions
(a collection of travel poems)
From Mga Biyahe, Mga Estasyon
From Journeys, Junctions
(a collection of travel poems)
From Mga Biyahe, Mga Estasyon
From Journeys, Junctions
(a collection of travel poems)
TALES OF ANCIENT IBAL:
The Deluge and the Visit of the Celestial Siblings, p.5
6
Bantong
In this reprieve in the upheavals and deluge
We hear of the last hero of Ibalon,
The swashbuckling Bantóng, deputy and henchman
Of the now battle-weary Handyóng
Still daydreaming of the mellifluous of his beloved Oryol.
In this reprieve Handyong sends Bantong
With a thousand men to the lair of the half-beast,
Half-human mage and deceiver Rabót. But her seductive
Wisdom was not dissimilar to Oryol’s, though
She lured Bantong not with peace or gold but power.
Certainly Ibalon’s last hero proved deserving
Of the name. I shall show you how to live in peace,
Undisturbed no more by raging beast or raging volcano
Spewing fire and mudflow erasing villages,
But basking in the respect and adoration of the people.
Bantong would have none of it nor give in to the images
Planted by the deceitful magus in his innermost being.
Before his thousand warriors could arrive at the lair,
Bantong had overcome her wiles, found her sound asleep
And he heaved his sundang[i] and cleft Rabot in two.
Here Kadunung stops, and promises to resume his tale another day.
7
The End
A long gurgling call
A groaning from the earth’s deepest caverns
Beyond throat or mouth
Of cave, below and underfoot, from mountain heartland
Even from the sea
Like a surging typhoon, wall of ocean, cataract pouring
Like the burst of Kolasi
And Isarog when Onos blew and temblor tore the earth
To make it tremble
In its loins and the cliffs crumble and rivers overflow
To uproot even Moog
Or kamalig with trunk and bough and sturdy bonsod
Sliding into the black current:
Thus did the battle between wily monster
Half-man half-demon
Truly the last monstrous beast of Ibalon take place and end
Concealed by distance and jungle:
What ruse did our young warrior use against the ancient
Magus, master shapeshifter
Expert of the counterfeit that a tree trunk or thorny
Kagingking were actually
His claws and fangs ready to devour the inattentive victim?
The people could only
Imagine and recall a past and similar evil
And so in the late afternoon when the wind brought
The echoes
The villagers looked up at the gray taciturn clouds
And knew it was over
They looked to battle-worn Handiong waiting for his
Time in his balai
Of red lauan and cool thatch of cogon
Who sent brave Bantong with a thousand men
But did battle with the beast alone.
The wise apprentice, wiry youth, from his deathly mission
Was now destined
And proven to surpass him to his proud honor and delight:
​
“We shall hear only from the man.”