ICY WINTER DAY

ICY WINTER DAY, a haibun

I experienced winter for the first time in my life in the early sixties when I was studying for my master's degree at Syracuse University in New York.

I eagerly anticipated its arrival having been born in a tropical place. My friends from the same and neighboring countries had a wild celebration of sorts with the first flurry of snow. We gathered in the yard behind our apartments and together jumped with outstretched hands trying to catch the white feathery stuff which melted gradually on our hands. Of course that was only the first half of the story as we later experienced real winter in the succeeding days.

One morning, I knew that it would be slippery that day when I started walking to school. Across the street I saw a car move unsteadily upwards on an incline only to roll down every time it climbed upwards. So on my way to school I was extra careful navigating the sidewalk with other students. Then it happened. 

In front, a few paces ahead of me, a white American student suddenly slipped and fell down on the icy walkway. Without thinking of anything but to help, I rushed to her and offered my hand to aid her up. She started to take it, but immediately withdrew her hand when she saw the brown skin of mine. Surprised, I reluctantly left the scene and did not look back even after I heard a thud again.

icy winter day 

she disdains my brown hand

trying to help her get up

as I turn to leave

she falls down again

WINTER POEMS

WINTER POEMS

TANKA

around

the bonfire

of used Christmas cards

the homeless gather

hugging warmth

HAIKU

Christmas program

the deaf children sing

in sign languagee

day after Christmas

she gives a used card

to her shelter friend

chilly night

under its darkness

hides my loneliness

Tagalog version

gabing malamig

sa iyong dilim nagtatago

aking kalungkutan

Published in my book,

Haiku and Tanka Harvest

https://www.createspace.com/3737478

CONDOLENCE MARE

FOR Mareng NELIA DE GUZMAN

(Condolence to her family and loved ones)

     autumn advent

     the last remaining leaf

     falls down from the tree

     on the gentle prodding

     of Santa Ana wind

     in unison we join

     our collective prayers

     for the eternal repose

     of her soul, mercifully now

     in a pain-free world

     from Pareng Vic Gendrano

     9 November 2015

On the passing today of Nelia de Guzman, the mother-in-law of my daughter Juliet.

IN THE NAME OF LOVE

IN THE NAME OF LOVE

Inspired by titillating and tragic news headlines some time ago, I wrote the first two related tanka and posted them in the Summer Haiku Blog, a world-wide community of poets with the common love of the Japanese poetic forms. Then I added the third and fourth ones  later after a similar headliner.

she gunned him
in his sleep
as she can’t bear 
to share her lover
then she killed herself

mystery solved
he disappeared
only to admit later
he’s with his other love
living abroad 

their vow of love
remains unbroken
to the very end
when both submitted
to euthanasia

she with terminal cancer
he with hale heart who chose
to die with her together
in a foreign hospital
sanctioning self immolation

While having dessert in a restaurant after a late lunch, I wrote these lines on the back of the sales receipt, fresh from the memory of the poems I wrote above. 

Being a wordsmith that I am, my poetic persona meandered to a familiar magical and homey place where the past and the present mesh and time stands still. With just a bit of remembered lives or events, an avalanche of words spews out from nowhere and weaves themselves into a poem, like this one. 

the entwined ivy
and blooming rose
reach for the sun
the entanglements
of forbidden love

Bilingual poems

Having constantly used a borrowed language since high school and beyond, I am sometimes torn by uncertainty as to whether to use one in favor of the other or end up writing in both idioms in my poetry. 

I like to think though that I have some readers who understand both Tagalog and English hence my decision to use both as much as possible. Any comments or feedback on this matter would be greatly appreciated.

Here is a bilingual sample.

from a distance
at the appointed time
I wait for your glance
to bask once more
in your smile

Tagalog

sa abot ng tanaw
at takdang panahon
hintay and sulyap mo
nang muling mamasdan
and iyong ngiti

Published in my book,
Haiku and Tanka Harvest

"Haiku and Tanka Harvest" by Victor P Gendrano

Selected Haiku and Tanka poems, 2006-2011 A selection of over 200 haiku and tanka poems previously published in various online and print journals as well as book anthologies, written from 2006-2011.

CACTUS

the cactus plant
outlives and outlasts
even man himself
who then is the master
of the universe

from my book,
Haiku and Tanka Harvest
available at Amazon

Tagalog

ang cactus ay

nabubuhay nang matagal

sa tao, sino nga kaya 

higit makapangyarihan

sa mundo

Friendship

my neighbor mows
the grassy edges
of my unkempt lawn
in the shade I try to write
this friendship poem

from my book,
Haiku and Tanka Harvest

MORE BILINGUAL POEMS

HAIKU

lack of rain

still no news

of their runaway daughter

Tagalog

kulang sa ulan

wala pa ring balita

lumayas na anak

a fly on top

of the carabao

the mighty one

Tagalog

nakasakay

sa likod ng kalabaw

makapangyarihan

TANKA

from a distance

at the appointed time

I wait for your smile

to bask once more

in your smile

Tagalog

sa abot ng tanaw

at takdang panahon

hintay ang sulyap mo

nang muling mamasdan

ang iyong ngiti

From my book,

Haiku and tanka harvest

Moving Day

MOVING DAY, a haibun

by Victor P. Gendrano

World Haiku Review, August 2013

watching me watch

the remnants of my past life

my daughter whispers

it's alright Dad to be sad

on your moving out

On my daughter Juliet's insistent demand that it's time for me to enjoy my retirement, I moved to a senior community place euphemistically called Leisure World. On the early morning of that first day, I thought I smelt the aroma of a freshly brewed coffee, so half-awake, I hurriedly walked to the kitchen dreamingly half-expecting a homey breakfast with my late wife.

Unfortunately, I accidentally bumped my head on the bedroom's slightly open door and felt blood oozing from my forehead to my eyes. I sidestepped to the bathroom, snatched a bunch of toilet paper and pressed them tightly over the wound. With my right hand on my forehead, I used my left hand to dial for help.

A paramedic examined the wound and, obviously to lessen the gravity of the situation and put me at ease, he proclaimed with impish grin and studied flair that it was only a cut and no stitches are needed. He then cleaned, dressed and bandaged my head wound, while softly humming a tune.

Blurting repeated thanks while escorting him to the door, I glimpsed a shaft of early morning light gradually piercing and bathing my sleepy neighborhood.

no time nor place

could weaken the memory

of my first love

Chopped tree

the widower explains

to his visiting son

why he chopped their shade tree

twice there he drawls

I tried to hang myself

In my book,

Haiku and Tanka Harvest

Loneliness

starved for a woman's touch

he indulges in fantasy

and falls prey to a flirt

beneath the cloak of night

alone,he weeps

In my book,

Haiku and Tanka Harvest

Death in the family

the autumn wind
scatters the dried leaves
in the family photo
his face is gradually
and slowly fading

from my book,
Haiku and Tanka Harvest

Brother's death

an old leaf falls

on the gentle prodding

of the autumn wind

unexpected news 

of my brother's death

BILINGUAL POEMS

Having been constantly using a borrowed language since high school and beyond, I am sometimes torn to uncertainty as to whether to use one in favor of the other or end up writing in both idioms in my poetry. Here is a sample.

from a distance
at the appointed time
I wait for your glance
to bask once more
in your smile

Tagalog

sa abot ng tanaw
at takdang panahon
hintay and sulyap mo
nang muling mamasdan
and iyong ngiti

Published in my book,
Haiku and Tanka Harvest

https://www.createspace.com/3737478

Sold house

Sold house -

Lingering a bit, my kids had to literally drag me out of the house which I sold but has not yet been occupied by the new owner. Earlier, I begged them to let me see our house for the last time. I had to get rid of it due to the passing of my wife with most of my children out and living on their own. Also, it was emotionally draining for me and I could not stand and bear to see, feel, and relive the decades of memorable experiences living there.

for the last time
I listen to the laughter
of my growing children
echoing from the rooms
of my just sold house

Her absence

the silent sound

of her absence

fills our room

only the echoes

of yesterday remain

from my book, 

Haiku and Tanka Harvest

Last embrace

(For my brother Gabriel who passed away two weeks ago. Rest in peace Bro!)

I know now

why our embrace

was so tight

your last farewell

to fleeting life

In my book,

Haiku and Tanka Harvest @ Dec. 2011

https://www.createspace.com/3737478

Unkempt lawn

my neighbor mows

the grassy edges

of my unkempt lawn

in the shade I try to write

this friendship poem

From my book, 

Haiku and Tanka Harvest

18th Birthday

eighteenth birthday

she dances with strangers

my daughter's daughter

if I feel such a pain

how about her father]

from my first book,
Rustle of bamboo leaves, ©2005

Like

Free-spirited

she dances

to her own music

my free-spirited

granddaughter

not unlike her mother