By John Ricafrente Pesebre

Inda man raw ay!  Iyan kaya sa dakol na nauudang mga memoryang naggagayon na, lalo na su mga bagay-bagay sadto kanato na nalilingawan na.  Ku pauli ako ku pintakasi, nakabisara namo ni Pading Junjie Oliva su nanay ni Oyang na Hernandez and we got a treat sa mga rararom na mga saritaon.

Honestly, hearing people talk gurang is a guilty pleasure.  Maybe it is the high regard I have for our language.  I use to brag to my friends here in Manila about the word “likwad” na iyan sa uda uman translation sa tagalog tsaka sa mga ibang dialects.  Nyaraw!  Kin minsan ire-record ko pa ana bisara namo ni Mama (Tering) ta nagray na talagang mag irongog sa sagugurang na sarita.  One time she texted me, “Nag-aawan awan sana ko sadi ta mala na kagabgab.”  Labi na ka kagabgab?

An usad pa kadi, dakol mga igin sa Nabuenyos ana isadto na ibang nasyon – ipinangigin sadto, sadto naman gad pigpamilya, sadto naman pigraan.  Ana usad pa, iyan sa ana mga kultura nguwan maski sari iina-anud sa materialism – probably because of poverty.  Nabua is not an exception.  When a culture becomes bent towards materialism, it will put higher priority on infrastructure, economics, jobs, etc. over virtue, character and intangibles.  Our language is part of who we are.  Words generally represent concepts, an intangible entity.

It seems to me that Nabuenyos love their language.  If word-disappearance is a global phenomenon, then we might lose many of what we love.  Some steps needed to be taken.

A Crucial Step: Words and How We Use Them

One literary effort being done is the writing of a Nabua dictionary.  Commendable.  Minsan kaya maray man na ibutang ana sarita sa konteksto sa poetry, nganing lalong manamitan ana sareta.  For example, a dictionary definition would be

likwad. /n/ lik-hwad. - a word that describes the act of an aquatic creature to gasp for air on water surface.

We could also use it in a haiku to put a contextual meaning to it:

Liri-likwad na

Nganod kiton binwiton

Tsaka iyowon

My preference for poetry is due in fact to my observation that Nabuenyos love figurative language.  My preference for “haiku” is one of practicality.

It is practical because it is easy to write and you don’t need a grand over-arching theme.  Look at one of Basho’s “Moon and Moonlight” haiku

The harvest moon –

Traversing a pond

The night through.

However, if you translate that in Nabua with the touch of Nabua’s local color, it may read

Adi bulan, ngowan na kabulanon

Binabat-ak sadi katunonong na sulong

Giramrag

For some Nabuenyos, a haiku like that evokes nostalgia – a quiet, joyful nostalgia.

What is a haiku?

Haiku is a “short Japanese poem: a form of Japanese poetry with 17 syllables in three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables, often describing nature or a season” [Microsoft Encarta: CD].

Segun ki William R. Nelson, co-translator of Takafumi Saito, in the anthology 1020 Haiku in Translation: The Heart of Basho, Buson and Issa,

[H]aiku emphasizes the co-existence of things, an action in which one thing acts upon another is usually avoided.  Even in Basho’s frog haiku, what happnes is not that a frog simply mumped or jumps into an old pond.  Rather, an old pond, a frog, the water sound and the spreading ripples caused by the diving frog coexist at the same time, creating a certain harmony among them through an unespected juxtaposition of images.  As an aside, this principle of the coexistence and juxtaposition of things, events, feelings as exemplified in haiku if internalized by the world’s people, could dramatically bolster world peace.  People living side by side, without argument, without force.” [Nelson & Saito, vi-vii].

Usad sa mga rason kaya medyo sikat ana pagsurat sa haiku ngowan na panahon is its “close relation to nature.”  Nelson & Saito adds,

Nature is always enjoyed, relied upon and revered through that word in haiku.  In today’s world where the preservation of nature has become a great concern of the people, haiku may represent a new aspect as to the way we coexist with nature” [ibid]. 

Tauno ta 5-7-5 ana pattern?

5-7-5 sa Japanese sana man.  An kayang Japanese mga alokot ana sareta.  For example, the English translation of this transliterated Nihonggo

Uchihatasu

Boro tsuredachite

Natsunokana

is

To fight a duel

Two wandering monks together hurry –

Summer fields.

For Japanese it took this haiku four words, while in English eleven.  The Japanese is outnumbered 1:3.  So I would say we double the rhythm.  Instead of 5-7-5, I suggest 10-14-10 is the best for Nabua haikus.  I think this is fair.

However, should you wish to follow 5-7-5 like what I did in the other thread, you may do so.  Bahala na ka!

A Note on the Practicality of Haiku writing

Not all Nabuenyos have propensity to poetic literature.  But it seems like all Nabuenyos would love a good talk – one that is filled with figurative language and passion.  Haiku, although it is poetry, does not require much poetic talent – just the ability to describe the surroundings.  Minsan ngani, dini describe mo sana tapos kapatawa kana pagka describe.  An kayang taga Nabua, makabayad sana sa ararom na Nabuenyo word mapatatawa na.

In summary, should you desire to contribute in Haiku you may do the following:

1. Describe something in nature (of course about Nabua surroundings)
2. use either a 5-7-5 format or double it 10-14-10 with every number comprising a line

[H]aiku emphasizes the co-existence of things, an action in which one thing acts upon another is usually avoided.  Even in Basho’s frog haiku, what happnes is not that a frog simply mumped or jumps into an old pond.  Rather, an old pond, a frog, the water sound and the spreading ripples caused by the diving frog coexist at the same time, creating a certain harmony among them through an unespected juxtaposition of images.  As an aside, this principle of the coexistence and juxtaposition of things, events, feelings as exemplified in haiku if internalized by the world’s people, could dramatically bolster world peace.  People living side by side, without argument, without force.” [Nelson & Saito, vi-vii].

 Kin gusto mong makabayad sa iba ibang haiku na isinurat ku mga japanese masters, click mo di mga link sadi baba

http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Island/5022/basho.html

http://www.dublinwriters.org/haiku/basho.html

http://www.dublinwriters.org/haiku/buson.html

http://www.dublinwriters.org/haiku/issa.html

 http://www.dublinwriters.org/haiku/shiki.html