Daniw Ken Manang Nellie Somera

YOU ARE A POEM NOW

Maysaka Itan a Daniw


Ken Manang Nellie Somera, iti rabii ti mansayagna,
Mililani, Hawaii, Disiembre 9, 2011



You are our poem now, as it has been.

Maysaka itan a daniw,
Kas idi.

Always we see the spark of life in your eyes,
Our elder sister and friend, compatriot
To our exilic laughter and this pain
That goes with your leaving us sooner.


Kankanayon a makitami ti aron ti apuy
Kadagiti matam, sika manangmi, pagayam,
Kadua kadagiti exilo a katawa kas iti daytoy
A leddaang a kabulon ti ipapanaw.

You have come a long way, Manang Nellie.

Adayon ti nagtengmo, Manang Nellie.

You have come a long way into life,
And tonight this is what we tell:
Go, go to that river yonder.

Adayon ti nagtengmo iti biag,
Ket ita a rabii daytoy ti madakamat:
Mapanka iti ballasiw ti karayan.

There, tell again of our dreams,
A lot of those,
The dreams of poets who seek a prayer
From the lines we write to celebrate
What promise of life is there
In this your going away.

Idiay, ibagam manen dagiti tagaineptayo,
Adu kadagitoy,
Tagtagainep dagiti mannaniw nga agbirbirok
Iti kararag manipud iti binatog dagiti naisurat
Tapno iti kasta selebrarantayo ti biag sadiay
Iti daytoy nga inka ipapanaw.

We are certain now, a joyful story
The happy plot of
Our days getting older.

Ammotayon ita, daytoy a naragsak a sarita,
Ti addaan rag-o a singgalot
Dagiti aldawtayo a lumakay.

Somehow, we fix this memory, broken
And then fixed again only to find out
That it is coming to life again.

Uray no kaskasano, taramaanentayo daytoy
A lagip, narakrak tapno tarimaanen manen
Tapno makitatayo nga agungar manen.


For here we are, in life as in death,
Here we are with our promises for you,
Broken, fixed, and then broken again
Rewritten in the recalling,
As we celebrate your passing.

Gapu ta addatayo ditoy, iti biag kas iti ipupusay,
Addakami ditoy kadagiti karimi kenka,
Marakrak, matarimaan, santo marakrak manen
Tapno iti pananglagipmi ket maisurat
Ti rag-o iti ipapanaw.

We wish you to tarry along,
Remain with us
In the cold of days of December,
Dance to the tune of Christmas carols.

Kayatmi koma nga alusiisenka a pumanaw,
Addaka iti sibay
Kadagitoy nalammin nga aldaw ti Disiembre,
Agsala iti tono ti kanta iti Paskua.

You see: the mornings come darker,
And the winter shadows shorter.

Makitam: dagiti bannawag ket nasipsipngetda ita,
Ket dagiti anniniwan iti panaglalam-ek ababbabada.

But our memory of you is forever,
Woven into the lines of your story
You leave behind for us to say each time
You absence fills up the void in us.

Ngem ti lagipmi kenka ket agnanayon,
Naiyabel kadagiti linia ti saritam
Nga ibatim kadakami tapno saritaenmi
No kasta a mariknami ti pannakapunno
Ti ubbaw kadakami.



We see you now with your words:
You are alive, laughing,
and laughing more!

Makitadaka ita kadagiti balikasmo:
Sibibiagka, agkatkatawa,
Ken agkatkatawa pay!

We listen to you in the silence,
And there,
Between our doubts and certainties,
We know we are coming to grief.

Dumngegkam kenka iti ulimek,
Ket sadiay,
Iti baet dagiti duadua ken kinasigurado,
Ammomi nga agsensennaaykami.

We anticipate what is in there,
Past the phrases of our finiteness.

Sinanamakami no ania ti adda sadiay,
Iti labes dagiti frase ti kaaddat’ patinggami.

For tonight, you are a free verse.
You are a stanza, and more,
Moving us away from our lonely imaginings.

Gapu ta ita a rabii, maysaka a verso libre,
Maysa nga istanza ken adu pay,
Iyad-adayonakami iti leddaang iti isip.


You have come to us one last time.
From afar, we know this now:
You are ever-present, and always
You stand there, seeing what can be seen
And with our hearts in lament and in song
We can only bid you goodbye, Manang Nellie,
Elder sister to our longing.

Immayka kadakami iti maudi a gundaway.
Manipud iti adayo, daytoy ti ammomi ita:
Addaka a kankanayon, ket ditaka nga agtakder,
Sikikita kadagiti mabalin a makita
Ket kabulig dagiti pusomi ti dung-aw ken duayya,
Dakami ti agpakada, Manangmi a Nelli,
Manang dagiti adu a pannakaila.



Hon, HI
Dis 9, 2011