Ti mannaniw isuratna ti makitana:/The poet writes what he sees:
Ti dayag ti taaw iti agsapa/The splendor of the morning sea
Ti tarnaw ti langit iti aglikig/The luminosity of the sun at noontime
Uray ti pannakaaradas ti kadaratan/Even the rape of the sandy shore
Idi arinunos ti gikaw a bulan./In the last days of the blood moon.
Dagiti balikasna isuda ti basingkawel/His words compose the politics of truth he is looking for.
Ti kinapudno a birbirokenna.
Ti amiris isu ti kararuana:agarasaas/Analysis is his soul: whisper
Dagiti babassit a dalluyon nga agpaigid/ The small waves coming to shore
Kasla agsasaibbekda, ulit-ulitenda/As if moaning, repeating
Nagpaingan ni Lienada? Apay a napukawna/Where has Lienada gone? Why did he lose
Ti karabukobna/his voice
Iti aldaw a pannakasuotna?/That day of trial?
Wen, daydiay, kasla nangngegko a nagsao/Yes, that's it, as if I heard
Ti Namunganayan iti tugawna a landok./The Initiator sitting on his iron chair.
Makitak laeng iti mata ti isipko/In the mind's eye I can only see
Ti adu a pakabuklan ti adu a baton-lagip/The many narratives of many memories
A binayby-anda a patta idiay Susuan./In the abandoned half-finished Susuan edifice
Ket igupennak lattan ti dap-ayan./ And the platform swallowed me
Sumgarak manen ta daytoy ti samiweng./I cringed again because this is the song
Agsayukmuak iti bugas ti gumilaweng./I cry in the essence of the sweet scribe sounds
Ditoy ti taeng ni mannaniw ken amin/This is the house of the poet and all
A bugi dagiti nagpuypuyatanna?/The pregnancies of sleepless nights?
Koma, inwingiwing ti Namunganayan,/A hope it was, said the Initiator, swinging his head.
Ngem diak ammo no agsubli ni Lienada*/But how would I know Lienada comes again.
Ket kinunak iti kaunggak: Diak maibabawi/And deep inside: I can't deny
Isuda ken Ariel ti karimatan a bituen/He and Ariel are the brightest stars
Ti panawenda, ngem natnag iti guyod-sulisog/In their time, but he strayed into temptation
Ket nagsarwa iti saan a mabilang a kinaulbod./And vomited a million lies.
Birokem ti natbag a timekmo/Search for your clear voice
Ibayogmo koma ti kinapudno./Raise high the banner of truth
Ugasam, Lienada, ti ngiwatmo iti apgad/Wash your mouth, Lienada/ with the salt water
Ti napudaw a kadaratan idiay Susuan./Of the white sands of Susuan.
*a sort of a pun on the English word (lie) and the Spanish (nada), which is to say, it expresses the writer's article of faith: lie not or in plain language: do not lie, don't be a liar
the English translation pales in comparison to the Ilokano version.
Published in the July 11, 2005 issue of Bannawag, the Ilokano weekly magazine.
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