Halad para han Danggab

Carmie Ortego

Kon ha imo daan nga kinabuhi,
ginhikog ka gamit an garrote,
diri ada kami mabati hin piyait
samtang ginkukunot an imo but-ol
hasta nga waray na hangin
nga umutwal tikang ha imo.
O bangin ginsuriban ka nga nakahigot ha poste,
ginlumos ha salog, an tubig naglulukop
han tunan-on nga lawas, an kalayo
hinay-hinay nga nagtutubod han panit.
Sugad an pamatay han kababayen-an hadto.
Kahuna nira nga napuo na an lawas
kundi waray nira sarabotan
nga ginbuhian lugod nira an kalag.

Asya nga nasusubhan pa
it paglarab, sugad hin sinuritan nga dahon
nga napaparong han tigda nga uran.
Kon naabat ka hin ul-ol ha imo but-ol,
pulong ito nga naikagarawas paglitok
hin mga butang han inop:
balyena nga nabugwak hin tubig
kon nahinggok kahuman sumalom,
tikarol nga matil-is it iyagak, marong-
parong nga nagbubunay
hin duha ka dosena nga bulawan.
Diri ada ha tiluak an gahom han mga yamyam.
Labi nga makalilisang it huring hit ginpipitlok:
an padayon nga nagtitingog may kalibotan
nga ginpuputli an ira mga pulong,
ginpapadara an ira kalag ngan
ginbabag-o it dagway hit kalibotan.

Offering for the Witch

If, in your past life,
you were strangled by a garrote,
we might not have heard your shriek
while your larynx was being crushed
until no air comes out of you.
Or you might have been burned
at the stake, drowned at the river,
water enveloping your earthly body,
fire slowly searing your skin.
They killed women that way.
They thought they slew the body,
but they did not know they freed the soul.
That is why the fire is easily snuffed
like a pyre of leaves doused
by sudden rain.

If you feel a twinge in your throat,
those are words fleeing to utter
the affairs of dreams:
a whale blowing out water to inhale
after diving, kingfisher screeching,
moth laying two dozen eggs of gold.
Incantations rely not on bellows for potency.
More terrifying is the whisper of one
who is throttled: the one who continues to utter
knowingly purifies their words, sends out
their spirit and renews the face of the earth.