TRADITIONAL POEMS:

Ang Matampuhin ni Lope K. Santos

Damong makahiya na munting masanggi’y
nangunguyumpis na’t buong nakikimi,
matalsikan lamang hamog na konti’t
halik ng amiha’y mabigla sa dampi
mga kinaliskis na daho’y tutupi’t
tila na totoong lanta na’t uns’yami.
Mutyang balintataw ng buwang maningning
sa salang mabiro ng masayang hangi’y
pipikit na agad sa likod ng dilim,
panakaw-nakaw na sa lupa’y titingin,
sa tanaw ng ulap at ng panganorin.

Malinaw na batis ng mahinhing bukal

na napalalabo ng bahagyang ulan,
kahit dahong tuyo na malaglag lamang
ay nagdaramdam nang tila nasugatan;
isang munting batong sa kanya’y magalaw
ay dumaraing na at natitigilan.

Matingkad na kulay ng mayuming sutlang

kay-sarap damitin at napakagara,
munting mapatakan ng hamog o luha,
ay natulukot na’t agad namumutla;
salang malibangan sa taguang sadya’ y
pinamamahayan ng ipis at tanga.

Kalapating puting may batik sa pakpak,

munting makalaya’y malayo ang lipad;
habang masagana sa sariling pugad,
ay napakaamo at di lumalayas;
nguni, pag sa palay ay minsang manalat,
sa may-alagad man ay nagmamailap.

Oh, Pusong tampuhin! Ang langit ng buhay

ay wala sa pusong laging mapagdamdam;
hindi nagluluwat ang kapayapaang
 mamahay sa palad na hubad sa lumbay;
lalo sa pag-irog, ang tampo’y di bagay
kaning maya’t-maya at, nakamamatay!

Activity Reference (Preferably for the discussion of traditional poems vs. contemporary poems)

Order for Masks by Virginia R. Moreno

To this harlequinade
I wear black tights and fool’s cap
Billiken, make me three bright masks
For the three tasks in my life
Three faces to wear
One after the other
For the three men in my life.

When my Brother comes

Make me one opposite
If he is devil, a saint
With a staff to his fork
And for his horns, a crown.
I hope by contrast
To make nil
Our old resemblance to each other
And my twin will walk me out
Without a frown
Pretending I am another.

When my Father comes

Make me one so like
His child once eating his white bread in trance
Philomela before she was raped.
I hope by likeness
To make him believe this is the same kind
The chaste face he made
And my blind Lear will walk me out
Without a word
Fearing to peer behind.

If my lover comes
Yes, when my Seducer comes
Make for me the face
That will in colors race
The carnival stars
And change in shape
Under his grasping hands.

Make it bloody
When he needs it white
Make it wicked in the dark
Let him find no old mark
Make it stone to his suave touch
This magician will walk me out,
Newly loved
Not knowing why my tantalizing face
Is strangely like the mangled parts of a face
He once wiped out.

Make me three masks.

Activity Reference (Preferably for the discussion of traditional poems vs. contemporary poems)

Sa Kasintahang Nilimot Na ni Benilda S. Santos

Ang totoo, ayaw na kitang makausap.
Nakakainis kasi ang tawa mo sa telepono.
Lahat ng bagay pinagtatawanan mo—
kahit hindi nakakatawa
nagiging biro sa ‘yo.
Ayaw ko nang ganito.
Pakiramdam ko kasi, maysakit ang tawa mo
at medyo takot akong mahawa pa
sa mikrobyong dala-dala mo.
Ayaw kong manghina pa
ang malusog-lusog nang
kaligayahan ko.
Ngunit alam ko:
makikipagkita pa rin ako sa iyo
alang-alang sa mga alaalang
nakapagpapabanal sa tao
at dahil alam kong
sa likod ng malalakas na halakhak
ang totoo,
hinihingan mo ako ng reseta
sa sakit mo.
Hindi mo alam,
wala na akong maibibigay
na anupamang gamot.
Ang umiibig pala nang tapat sa iba
nagiging maramot.
Activity Reference (Preferably for the discussion of traditional poems vs. contemporary poems)

Sa Nobyong Hindi Naging ni Genvieve L. Asenjo

Hinahapulas ko sa banig
ang kainit ng iyong katawan
at kinukumot sa lamig
ng mga gabi
ang mga alaala
ng iyong mga yakap.
Paano ba maging bingi
sa bawat pagbulong
ng hangin
sa mga halinghing
at ungol ng di-pagpayag
at pagpaubaya
nang pinangahasan
mong saluhin
ang dila ko’t mga bibig?
Ito pala
ang pangungulilahan ko
sa mga madaling-araw
na panaginip na lang
ang muling paggising
sa tabi mo.
Activity Reference (Preferably for the discussion of traditional poems vs. contemporary poems)

CONTEMPORARY POEMS:

We Real Cool by Gwendolyn Brooks (1959)

THE POOL PLAYERS.
SEVEN AT THE GOLDEN SHOVEL.
We real cool. We
Left school. We
Lurk late. We
Strike straight. We
Sing sin. We
Thin gin. We
Jazz June. We
Die soon.
Activity Reference (Preferably after discussion of elements of a poem and analysis of ‘We Real Cool’):
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/59b689b52278e7557ed48aff/t/59e7c7aafe54efcef8598af7/15083621
55279/%E2%80%9CWe_Real_Cool%E2%80%9D_Poems.pdf (page 4)

Identification by Wisława Szymborska (2010)

Translated from The Polish by Clare Cavanagh and Stanislaw Baranczak
It’s good you came—she says.
You heard a plane crashed on Thursday?
Well so they came to see me
about it.
The story is he was on the passenger list.
So what, he might have changed his mind.
They gave me some pills so I wouldn’t fall apart.
Then they showed me I don’t know who.
All black, burned except one hand.
A scrap of shirt, a watch, a wedding ring.
I got furious, that can’t be him.
He wouldn’t do that to me, look like that.
The stores are bursting with those shirts.
The watch is just a regular old watch.
And our names on that ring,
they’re only the most ordinary names.
It’s good you came. Sit here beside me.
He really was supposed to get back Thursday.
But we’ve got so many Thursdays left this year.
I’ll put the kettle on for tea.
I’ll wash my hair, then what,
try to wake up from all this.
It’s good you came, since it was cold there,
and him just in some rubber sleeping bag,
him, I mean, you know, that unlucky man.
I’ll put the Thursday on, wash the tea,
since our names are completely ordinary—
Activity Reference (Preferably to use with the discussion of narrative/narration/Effect of Point of
View; Can also be intertextualize /compared and contrasted with Artidote post and/or news article ):
Artidote Post: https://www.facebook.com/theartidote/posts/grief-ive-learned-is-really-just-love-its-all-the-
love-you-want-to-give-but-cann/1726268984156576/
News article: https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1101682/wife-relates-killing-of-husband-brother-in-pnp-
army-ops

The Emperor’s New Sonnet by Jose Garcia Villa (1993)

Activity Reference (Preferable to use with the discussion of traditional poetry and contemporary poetry
and also shape or concrete poetry (i.e. black-out poetry)):
http://libraryofinvisible.blogspot.com/2014/03/jose-garcia-villa.html
http://tricia-ish.blogspot.com/2010/09/i-am-semicolon.html

Dirty Face by Shel Silverstein (2011)

Where did you get such a dirty face,
My darling dirty-faced child?

I got it from crawling along in the dirt

And biting two buttons off Jeremy’s shirt.
I got it from chewing the roots of a rose
And digging for clams in the yard with my nose.
I got it from peeking into a dark cave
And painting myself like a Navajo brave.
I got it from playing with coal in the bin
And signing my name in cement with my chin.
I got it from rolling around on the rug
And giving the horrible dog a big hug.
I got it from finding a lost silver mine
And eating sweet blackberries right off the vine.
I got it from ice cream and wrestling and tears
And from having more fun than you’ve had in years.
Sonnet # 136 (The, hands, on, the, piano, are, armless) by Jose Garcia Villa
The, hands, on, the, piano, are, armless.
No, one, is, at, the, piano.
The, hands, begin, and, end, there.

There, no-one’s, hands, are, there:

Crystal, and, clear, upon, the, keys.
Playing, what, they, play.

Playing, what, they, are.

Playing, the, sound, of, Identity.
Yet, how, absurd, how, absurd, how, absurd!

Activity Reference (Preferable to use with the discussion of rhyme and the sound in poetry)
https://www.michigan.gov/documents/THE_SOUNDS_OF_POETRY_33553_7.pdf
http://homepage.smc.edu/meeks_christopher/SOUND%20DEVICES%20USED%20IN%20POE
TRY.htm

Ako ang daigdig ni Alejandro G. Abadilla

I
ako
ang daigdig

ako
ang tula

ako
ang daigdig
ang tula

ako
ang daigdig
ng tula
ang tula
ng daigdig

ako
ang walang maliw na ako
ang walang kamatayang ako
ang tula ng daigdig

II
ako
ang daigdig ng tula

ako
ang tula ng daigdig

ako
ang malayang ako
matapat sa sarili
sa aking daigdig
ng tula

ako
ang tula
sa daigdig

ako
ang daigdig
ng tula

ako

III
ako
ang damdaming
malaya
ako
ang larawang
buhay

ako
ang buhay
na walang hanggan

ako
ang damdamin
ang larawan
ang buhay

damdamin
larawan
buhay
tula
ako

IV
ako
ang daigdig
sa tula

ako
ang daigdig
ng tula

ako
ang daigdig

ako
ang tula

daigdig
tula
ako

Activity Reference (Preferable to use with the discussion of contemporary poetry/ practice for poetry
reading; can also be for sounds of poetry): https://www.slideshare.net/liontamermigs/ako-ang-daigdig