A Mandayan Poem

Bahay Kubo sa Banban 1995

Hain yang Kanak bāy?

Danny C. Sillada

Ga-hanap ako ng kanak bāy,

Pero hain sa yang kanak bāy?

Sang butay, sang subâ, sang lungsod,

Sang lawod yaga anod-anod?

Yang mga ompô ga-laong:

Yang bāy ta amā ng ba’ong

Bisan unān pa ngini ka duõm

Kit-an sa gihapon yang dawom!

Madaya man o mahilawod

Modag-sâ gihapon sang bungtod;

Hanapon mo man o dili,

Molotaw yang kinabuhi!

Kung hain man ako ya-gikan

Amo yang kanak piyag-panawan?

Ngadto sang tumoy ng kalibutan,

Yang pag-hanap ko way utlanan…

Pero hain sa yang kanak bāy:

Ya-anod, ya-dagsâ sang baybay?

‘Kung ikit-an mo da yang kanmo bāy,

Lang-a ako daw hain mosubay…’

Translation:

Where is my Home?

I’m searching for a home,

but where is my home?

In the mountains, planes and rivers,

drifting into the sea?

The town’s elders once said:

a home is like a coconut shell –

no matter how bleak it is inside

you’ll feel at home even in its darkness!

You may drift upstream or downstream,

you’ll always find an open shore;

searching or not searching,

life will always find a path to follow!

Whatever reason why I’m here,

is the same reason why I wander far-off?

Into the distant corners of the world,

my search for a home is endless…

But where is my home:

lost, drifted and washed ashore?

‘If you have already found your home,

please, tell me what trail to follow…’

Personally, this is one of my favorite poems. Not only because it was composed in my native tongue but also it reminds of me of the person very close to my heart- My MAMA. Wherever life takes me, Nobody can hinder me from following the path I have chosen.