Problem Is VIII

By Conchitina R. Cruz [22] moves and it would be over.

I [23] Should I have told you then
[1] They say poor Filipinos multiply [24] we’d never been better,
[2] like rabbits since they have nothing
[3] to do but fuck. Living in houses with IX
room
[25] should I have told you then
[26] to hold your tongue, but we had
II [27] no room for such words.
[4] only for the inevitable brush
[5] of the hand against the buttock in
X
between
[28] We were rabbits,
[6] chores, on the way to switch
[29] Seeking the other side, bent on
[30] Crossing the pasture.
III
[7] channels to the daily noontime show,
[8] no money and little space
[9] lead to nowhere

IV
[10] but to coupling. We used to joke
[11] and call our selves typical Filipinos,
[12] broke and empty-handed,

V
[13] when all we did was touch, and for all
[14] the movies we missed, fancy dinners
[15] we didn’t have, books we borrowed

VI
[16] but never owned,
[17] we compensated
[18] by making love.

VII
[19] You told me not to worry,
[20] that someday the worst
[21] would end, just a couple of right
 Analysis Paper: Problem Is by Conchitina R. Cruz

What the Problem Is

The piece opens by seemingly preparing the audience to read a poem straightforwardly

addressing a problem as it gives you an introductory title “Problem Is”. However, as the piece

progresses, it starts presenting itself more as a narration of the life and living conditions of the

poor without directly stating what the actual problem is. This narration can be divided into four

segments, with the first three revolving around the synonyms of the word sex or intercourse.

The first segment of the piece starts with the first word up to the word ‘fuck’, which are

all in the first stanza. The stanza opens with a simile, comparing the poor with rabbits in terms of

how fast they multiply “since they have nothing to do but fuck”. This comparison was made by

the unspecified “they” which will be tackled later in this analysis. As it is quite striking, the

usage of the “vulgar” word ‘fuck’ puts attention to the poem’s word-choice. Since the act of sex

that is being tackled in this part of the poem is more “animalistic”—instinctual and purely carnal

—as emphasized by the comparison with rabbits, the word ‘fuck’ was specifically chosen to

reflect this. It also shows here that multiplying is not necessarily the desire of the poor but a

consequence of “having nothing to do”.

The second segment starts with the word ‘living’ in line 3, up to the word ‘coupling’ in

line 10 which paints a picture of how the poor Filipinos end up having sex. Focusing again on

the word-choice, it becomes apparent that the sex being mentioned here is different compared to

the one being tackled in the first segment of the poem. The persona summarizes that “no money

and little space lead to nowhere but to coupling,” implying that sex, in this context, is but a

byproduct or consequence of their poverty and not purely carnal like in the first segment.
However, the way she (the reason behind the pronoun used will be discussed later) explained

why and how this is so can be analyzed and interpreted further. If interpreted lightly, the mention

of the ‘noontime show’ in line 7 can be seen only as a means to provide a time-setting, implying

that sex is done even in the afternoon. However, this can also be further interpreted as an

emphasis to the cyclical nature of the typical day of the poor, similar to a noontime show where

every episode follows the same pattern over and over again, which is also the case for daily

‘chores’ which was provided in line 6 as a complement. With this, the reason behind the usage of

the word ‘coupling’ can be seen in a better light. The very nature of the word ‘coupling’ itself is

blunt or flavorless, compared to the animalistic nature of ‘fucking’ or the endearing nature of

‘making love’ (a phrase that was later used in the third segment of the poem). This then shows

that the word ‘coupling’ was aptly used to reflect the boring and repetitive day-to-day life of the

poor, the boredom reflected on how they keep switching channels, and that the poor end up

having sex simply to alleviate boredom as they spend their afternoons at home.

The second half of line 10 up to line 18 is the third segment of the poem. Coming from

the word fucking then to coupling, the poem now shifts to the phrase ‘making love’. Looking at

sex in the perspective of endearment, it can be inferred that there is a shift from something

negative or animalistic (fucking) to something plain and boring (coupling), and now to

something positive and passionate (making love). The shift in the expression used can be

attributed to the kind of sex being tackled, thus showing the different kinds of sex the poor

Filipinos have. In the third segment, the persona mentioned that to compensate for all the

romantic events they wish to experience but cannot afford, they ‘make love’ instead, thus

substituting romance with passionate sex.

 Stanza 7 onwards is the fourth segment of the poem, which focuses on answering what

the problem is although not directly stating it. It opens by introducing another character, the

‘you’. The one sided conversation of the persona and this ‘you’ character sheds light not just on

their situation but also gives hints on a few details about the persona. Through this, it can be

inferred that the persona is most probably a woman (thus the earlier usage of the pronoun she) as

she is told by the ‘you’ character “not to worry” in line 19, and that the ‘you’ is trying to do

something about their situation, which is normally said and done by the man in a typical

relationship—whether they’re married or simply living together. However, the persona

mentioned that she wanted to respond in contradiction to the promises of the man and tell him to

“hold your tongue” as they had “never been better”, showing that she no longer believes that

their situation would change, but she decided not to do so as they “had no room for such words”.

This would then reflect, again, the gender roles that they are portraying—the man giving the

promises and the woman showing that she’s holding on to hope just to keep the man going. With

that, they are rabbits, “seeking the other side, bent on crossing the pasture,” always looking for a

way out of poverty, whether they truly believe that they are capable of doing so or not. The

subtlety of her reaction also sheds light on their situation. As the persona did not get angry or

actually contradict the man, it can be inferred that the persona recognizes that the man is indeed

trying to find a way to provide them a better life but just couldn’t do so.

Looking at how the piece began and ended, it can be observed that they are similar as

they both compared the poor Filipinos to rabbits. However, the comparison was changed from a

simile to a metaphor. Firstly, to proceed with the analysis of the piece, it is relevant to study the

nature of similes and metaphors—similes claim that Object A is only like Object B while

metaphors claim that Object A is Object B. Secondly, it important to observe who is making the
comparisons; as mentioned earlier, the comparison in the beginning (simile) is being done by the

unspecified “they” while the comparison at the end (metaphor) is being done by the persona

herself. This then answers what the problem is. The poem starts by giving the perception of the

‘they’, that the poor Filipinos are like rabbits, then proceeds to take the readers inside the ever

cyclical and repetitive life of the poor, whose lives will never change as they are stuck in that

situation no matter how much they struggle, before ending with the persona claiming that they

are indeed rabbits, not because they “have nothing to do but fuck”, but because they are scared

and powerless rabbits, always “bent on crossing the pasture” but never getting the chance or

opportunity to actually get there. With these, the problem that the title introduced surfaces. The

real problem is the perception of the ‘they’, the outsiders, those who do not experience poverty,

simply dismissing that the reason why there are so many poor Filipinos is because they multiply

like rabbits, not being fully aware that the poor are poor because they live cyclical lives and

cannot escape from poverty due to the lack of capabilities and opportunities.