An Parabayong / The Bird-Catcher Poem by Jaime Jesus Borlagdan

An Parabayong / The Bird-Catcher

Pagdiklom, aram niyang tapos na
an saindang paghanap sa kahewasan.
Basog buda paas sa pagkagrat,
mapuon na an saindang pagkaturog.
Dara niya na man an sakong laogan,
luluway-luwayon an tinuom na dalan
na awot sa diklom, pasiring sa higanteng pili.
Bago sakaton an pigtaguan kan mga salag,
minapatabi siya sa mga dai nahihiling.
Sarong kumpisal ki berdugo
bago an pagsuklob kan itom na gibo.
Pagnakasakat na, saka pa sana papalaadon
an saklay niyang ispat.
Duman su mga malipot na itsura
nakabulukon sa sadiring katuninungan.
An mga balukag toog na mga dagom
sa lawas na turog an pagmati. Sa laog ninda
an kikilat na hiro naglalayap pa
sa haralangkaw na langit kan pangiturugan.
Sa langit kan mga bayong
kun sain an paglayog daing kasagkudan.
An mga matang nakahiling palaog
mamuklat sa apod kan banaag.

An iba makakalayog
ngani sanang mabangga
sa nagsarabudan na diklom buda sanga.
Dai sinda tuod na makigkig
ta dai sindang takot na midbid.
Paros an saindang parasorog.
Kaya kan pigpudo sinda saro-saro
na garo mga bungang naghahangos,
buka an saindang tuka
sa suriyaw na daing laog,
an muklat na daing nahihiling
kundi an suriaw kan saga.
Pigtukis kan iba su kamot
na pano nang pinilaan ki tinukaan,
ta iyo sana ini an kayang isimbag
kan mga lawas na dinaguso
ki dakol na kangalasan.
Pigpipirit nindang sabuton.
Sa saindang pilik-pilik,
nagbalik an saindang init.
Dai ninda masabutan.

Pagkapano, tinuok niya na su liog
kan sako kan saiyang gugom
nganing dai na maagaw kan paros
su mga bayong.
Dangan luminusad na siya sa diklom.
Huminipa sa iya su mga aninipot
buda silyab sa tarom kan mata
kan naghihiriling na isog.
Pero dai siya nadara.
Huhugasan man sana siya
kan lipot kan banggi.
Buda malilingawan niya na ini
pag inapod na siya kan saiyang agom
para sa pamanggi.

Pagkaaga, su mga bayong
yaon na sa hawlang pininturahan
ki kolor kan kadlagan.
Sa hudyan, sa pag-ako kan mga ini
kan dai ninda masabutan,
mauukudan ninda an pagtadong.
Sa luwas kan eskwelahan
itatangro sinda kan parabayong
sa mga nagngangalas na aki,
arog sainda dai masabutan
kun pano an sarong lawas
na magian pa sa paros
kayang ikaag sa laoman.

English:
As darkness starts, he knows
that their search in the vastness is through.
Well-fed, with voices hoarse with shrieking
they will now begin to sleep.
Meanwhile, he has with him a sack
and will slowly thread a path by memory
to the giant Pili.
Before climbing where the nests are hidden
he offered excuses to the unseen.
An executioner's remorse
before the shroud of the dark deed is worn.
Only after the top-climb is reached will he dare lighting
the flash lamp he carries.
There the cold forms
are curled around their own calmness.
The feathers, stiff needles
on a body with senses asleep. Within them
the flash movements still flies
in the high heavens still dreamed.
In the heaven of the birds
where soaring has no end.
The eyes watching inward
open to the call of the gleam.

Some will be able to fly
only to smash
to the meshed darkness and branches.
They are not used to surprises
for they know no fear.
The wind is their shelter.

So as they were picked one after the other
like breathing fruits,
their beaks were agape
in an empty scream
the stare sees nothing
but the glare of the ray.
Some pecked at the hand
already covered with scars from pecking
for this is the only response
by bodies overwhelmed
by much awe.
They tried to understand.
With their squirming
their warmth returns.
They can not understand.

Already filled, he strangled the neck
of the sack with his clench
to avoid the wind's rescue for the birds.
The he descended to the darkness.
He was ambushed by the fireflies
and the shimmer in the sharp stares
of the watching wild.
But he was not moved.
He will be cleansed
by night's coldness.
And he will forget all of this
when his wife calls him for supper.

In the morning, the birds
are now in a coop painted
with the color of the woods.
In the end, in their acceptance
of that which they can't understand
they will learn meekness.
Outside school
they will be peddled by the bird-catcher
to awe-struck children
like them they can not understand
how a body
lighter than air
can be caged.

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
READ THIS POEM IN OTHER LANGUAGES
Jaime Jesus Borlagdan

Jaime Jesus Borlagdan

Tabaco City, Albay, Philippines
Close
Error Success