PATAY NA TUOD SI MARIA CLARA

ni Linda Alburo

Ah, kadto bang nagluspad nga hinigugma
sa linuiban nga si Crisostomo Ibarra?
Matud pa ni Mama kadto siya sulondon
magsigeg kablit sa arpa, manggiulawon
laming motimplag hamonada, hinayon
moamin kada humag nobena, matinahuron
ug unsa pa dihang uban nga mga—un-on
nga karon malisod na natong ispilingon.
Wala na tingali nahibilin rong arpa
ug labihan kamaha; maglutog hamonada
ug unsa to, kalaay ba anang magsisgeg nobena?
Si kinsa lay gusting santosong kay atong paantuson.
Ang kinahanglan sa babaye karon
maalam molalik sa awit nga iyang tukaron,
maabtik mangitag idalit nga sud-anon,
molihok bisag wala pay bendisyon.
Kon naa pa ron si Mama unsa kahay iayng ikasulti?
Nga labaw pang na-anghing kaniya si Maria Clara, mirisi.


[Translation]

Maria Clara is Dead Indeed

Ah, you mean that pale sweetheart
of the betrayed Crisostomo Ibarra?
According to Mama she was a model
always plucking the harp, shy,
cooked delicious ham dishes, somewhat slow,
kissed the elder’s hands after novena, obedient,
and was many other adjectives
that today we find difficult to spell.
Perhaps there’s no more harp left,
it’s expensive to cook a ham dish
and isn’t it boring to always pray the novena?
Let whoever want to be a saint suffer/
What a woman needs now
is to compose the song she will play,
be quick to fins the food she’ll serve,
proceed even without a blessing.
If Mama were still alive what would she say?
That Maria Clara is deader than she is, a pity.
From Sinug-ang, Women in the Literary Arts Inc., Cebu City, 1999