UMAYKA MANEN, GANGGANNAET/COME AGAIN, STRANGER

     "If a man purposely does me wrong," a Buddhist says, "I shall return him my ungrudging love; the more evil comes from him, the more good shall go to him from me."

     The she-devil with the neck brace has yielded, but wait--she has fled to the sanctum of the plunderers in the inner chamber where dwells the country's biggest criminal syndicate.
   

The Museum of Traditional Arts, the former Tabacalera building, in Laoag City, Ilocos Norte, Philippines

     Some of the poems to be included in the expanded version of "Umayka Manen, Ganggannaet/Come Again, Stranger," an anthology of Iluko and English poems are the following: Taltalem Ti Itlogda, Sika a Naumbi a Kanta, Dagidi, Denggemto Sadi Langit ti Pannakarasawda, The Facebook Lover, The Slaughter of Journalists and Other Political Perfidies, Where Have all the Flowers of Edsa Gone? Wanderlust, At the Time of the Holocaust. 

The Introduction is by Dr. Aurelio Solver Agcaoili of the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

     The first edition of the anthology came off the press in 1998.

PANAGUUMMONG 

 Saantayo a pimmanaw: Agsublitayo iti daan nga ili/Iti daan nga urnos/Kadagiti naangep a lagip---/Maysa a bato sadiay, ti akasia /Iti pagserkan, ti karuotan/A nagkikinnamatantayo./Dagiti babassit a panagbettak/Ti rikna kadagiti aringgawis/Dagiti balikas, ti nadayag/Nga arapaap---/Dagidi aldaw, anian!/Naganustayo ken siwawaya/A kas tumatayab iti tay-ak.?SImrektayo iti maysa a panawen/Idi lamolamo dagiti maris/Naayamuom dagiti rosal/Idiay Torres Bugallon.?Ita a rabii, maitanem dagitoy a samiweng, katkatawa/Tapno unorentayo manen ti agsapa/Nga agturong kadagiti kalsada/Iti ikub dagiti tarimbangon/Ti naputolan a lubong.
   
     ITI DAYTOY A PAGILIAM

Ayanmo idi intag-ay ni Kabunian

     ti kanigid nga imana
     ket impaulogna dagiti bendision
     ti daga?

     Adu ti imparaburna
     Adu ti pagarian nga imparangkapna:
     Acupan, John Hay, Dole,
     Del Monte, Procter and Gamble,
     Isetann, Robinson, Hilton
     William Lines, Stanfilco,
     Forbes, Jardin and Davis.

     Paspasdek a nangalikubkob kenka
     Iti mismo a pagilian.

     Ket ti patneng a Judas nagkamang
     Kadagiti adayo a siudad, intarayna
     Dagiti tallopulo a pirak
     Dagiti pannakikamalalana, intarayna
     Dagiti dagiti minas dagiti pultak
     A bantay a ti pagbanaganda
     Kasto ti Ipil-Cunig--
     Rinamesda, binaybay-anda--
     Iti gayadan ti Cordillera.

     Naingel ti arak nga impainomda
     Naingel ti apro nga inlaokda
     Dagiti ganggannaet a didiosen
     Agkatkatawada iti imeng ti kuarto
     Dagiti pagturayanda.