LABADA

By Eric E. Tuban

SA PAGKAPLAG
By Ton Daposala

ibuwag ang puti sa de kolor

ang panapton sa sida, hinaya
lang og kuskos basin makuspaw.
ilahi ang malata sa di malata,

Wanang pa sa papel
ang akong paghanduraw,
nipadpad sa panganod
nga gapaanod sa adlaw.

ang pangtiguwang sa pangbata.

himanhiman gikubalan na baya
sigeg bagnos sa bilahan. mosili
o dili mosili? panapo kay mongisi

Nagsuliyaw ang kanaway,

ug namasin ko nga kining
gikupotan kong dagang
gikan sa usa ka pak-an--

ang tabili. adunay mga hinampak

nga himarat, ug aduna sab diay
himilat. apan kon parehong ampay
tagai lag buwad-pinikas ni inday

nahagbong sa kalibotan
dihang gibenditahan
sa luha sa tigmugna.

sa way bisyo o way kaugmaon?

aduna dihay daot nga dakog kaon
ug ang mga dagkog tiyan, maalaang
molala bisag unsaon. apan puslan mang

Ton is a young poet from Cagayan de

Oro City.

way nagmahal, na hala beer pa day!

kay ang akong kasingkasing nagmaoy,
di ko pakahoykahoy. ang ako lang punto:
dako ang kalainan sa bogo ug tonto.
Eric writes from Mandaue City,
Cebu, Philippines

salingsing
Salingsing, a poetry magazine, is published quarterly and distributed for free at public
markets and terminals for the purpose of bringing contemporary Philippine poetry to the
masses. Accepts poems in English and Cebuano for publication. Email them at
rgmoldez@gmail.com with short authors bionote. Editor: Raul G. Moldez.
Cover art is from http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2012/04/illustrations-by-gabriel-moreno/

a poetry magazine

issue no. 1, january-march 2014

THINGS TO DO
By Raul Moldez

ANG PAYAG SA BUNGTOD

By Omar Khalid

THIS IS HOW YOU FIND THE ONE

By Zola Gonzalez-Macarambon

treadmill for thirty minutes

after a five-round brisk
walking at the plaza

inig-abli sa iyang bentana

mosulod ang kabuntagon
sa sulod, mangukab sa
tinabonang tinughong sa
babher, manimhot sa sinugbang
putpot, molingkod sa lantay
magkanta-kanta og
kamingaw sa payag,
ug kon mokatol ang kamot
mangawat og itlog sa pangki,
manghimudlay sa
sibay ug magpakaaron-ingnon nga
karaang bisita, magtaghoy-taghoy,
motilaw sa utan-kamunggay,
unya mogawas kini nga
magsipit sa kahumot sa aso
sa abohan, lugsong sa darohan
mosakay sa kabaw ug mohunghong
sa mag-uuma nga tingpamahaw na
ug nakaligo na ang iyang asawa

So one day you stop worrying about

whether your thighs look like two separate entities
under a short skirt,
you decide to bite the damned day to a drunken end
and drive off to where everybody else is-some gala or opening
or show, whatever, of things
you cannot take anymore of. You swing into the place,
like a broken gate banging against a wall,
scan the crowd, cluck a tongue against your cheek cause
everyones sitting in even numbers or standing around
talking about
that thing you all talked about just last night.
You find yourself in a unisex room
where you fluff out your hair around bare shoulders cause
you forgot to pretend to care about
the growth under your arms. You put on an eyebrow as you listen in
to cubicle doors slamming shut, and the water runningto drown the secret sounds of ladies rooms.
Outside, your friends sip on free colored drinks and you are tired
just looking at them, and you sit with a stranger, look at a point
on the wall behind his head,
and ask for a cigarette right before
you forget to ask his name.

prune the duranta

its leaves cover
the windows horizon
do the laundry
whites first,
coloreds next
pay the electric bill
arrears only
to avoid disconnection
cut cauliflower, broccoli,
carrots and cabbage
for four seasons
iron uniforms
take a rest
dream a dream
these tasks
will disappear
tomorrow
The writer is the editor
of this magazine.

Omar Khalid is the pen name of Richel Dorotan,

literary editor of Bisaya Magazine.

Zola is a poet and visual artist based in Cagayan de Oro.

PAGKABANHAW
By Gratian Paul R. Tidor
ibabaw sa gilubngan
sa among irong naligsan
gabarog ang labong nga santan
nga sa matag karon ug unya
mamulak og alibangbang.
Gratian writes from Dipolog City,
Philippines

DUHA KA BALAAN
By Jondy Arpilleda
Duha ka balaan
Domingo karon, Simba na.
Sul-ota ang labing puting barong
ug itom nga sapatos ug pantalon. Luhod,
bahalag imong duha ka tuhod
mokurog. Antosa lang!

Lunes na bitaw ugma.

Inig sulod sa imong buhatan.
Naay lain nga magpenitensiya
og tilap sa imong tiilan.
Jondy is a professor at
Kapalong College of Agriculture,
Science and Technology, Davao Del
Norte.