MLE/Nakem/TMI in Bayombong

The First of August, the Death of Cory Aquino, and an Appointment with Ilokano Writers and Amianan Culture Warriors

 

It was the first of August.

 

In the early hours of the pre-dawn light when my journey had led me to the snaking roads of Santa Fe, the text message came as a jolt: Cory Aquino, at 3:18 AM, was dead.

 

I had time to think: the road was closed to traffic, what with a freight truck carrying empty Pepsi Cola bottles skidding while on an uphill climb and filling the two-lane road with bottle fragments.

 

The country’s weather station had predicted a storm coming along the path I would take to go to Bayombong in Nueva Vizcaya where I was to lecture on the issue of  “becoming-nation” as this bears upon the issues of mother language education, cultural democracy, and linguistic justice—abstracts all that have demanded of me so much of my vacation time.

 

Dr Boni Ramos, research director of St. Mary’s University, had been able to put everything in order before taking a quick trip to Manila to welcome his returning son from Texas who had gone on there for a couple of years to work as a nurse.

 

No, I did not go to the home country for the R & R, understood by those who have the dollars to squander.

 

I did my own R & R: resistance and radicalism, if this struggle to bring back our languages into the classroom could be taxonomized this way.

 

My R & R of two months, thus, was work, work, and work.

 

And this work took on various twists and turns, with two books to finalize (Kallautang and Sukimat) and with a war to be staged and to be won (Mother Language Education nationwide campaign) that included a lecture series that brought me from the Amianan provinces up to the Zamboanga-land.

 

The last of the series of lectures—two of them—I had to cancel for lack of material time.

 

The soul has to rest—and the body too even if the mind is all too willing to put on some more nights on the road, with no decent sleep at all.

 

Or else, burn out is not something that we like to go through.

 

The SMU lecture was mind-boggling, with an audience that was collectively ready to take part in the MLE campaign to resist this homogenization of Philippine education and to radicalize our view of cultural pluralism and linguistic rights.

 

After the obligatory Q and A, we headed to one restaurant Bayombong takes as its pride, with the dish definitely evoking memory of home cooking.

 

There was a heavy downpour before and after, a good sign, a good luck.

 

Next, we went to see one Ilokano writer, one of the best women writers who taught students how to write well: Professor Ruperta V. Asuncion.

 

Manang Perting is what we call her.

 

Loving and kind and generous with her compliments, she is the epitome of a long-lost aunt who means so well with her words.

 

She is sick with cancer.

 

But she is strong, bubbly, happy to be home in Bayombong although she says she misses her own home in Los Banos, she misses her garden, she misses her solitude.

 

For she lived alone, and yet she lived in full communion with herself as she was always on the ready to offer her talents and gifts to others.

 

At about past 1:00 PM, we went to see her so we all could sing and dance, dance and sing, and reminisce those things we want kept in the heart forever.

 

I am so happy you came, she said.

 

We are so happy we came to see you, we said, in a choir-like way, when finally, at about 7:00 PM, we gathered the courage to say goodbye.

 

We stayed put for many hours: we stayed put to enjoy each other’s company: Rheo Domingo, Romeo Gervacio, Andy Toquero, Rogie Baysa, Peter La. Julian, and myself.

 

Dr Boni, her brother, was there, of course.

 

At the lunch hour, we were more: Ched Arzadon, Gloria Baguingan, Henry Navarro, Roy Aragon, and Jane Aragon.

 

But now, we had to say goodbye: Dr. Baguingan’s pinakbet and getta-a-daludal were waiting for us.

 

When writers get together, expect the togetherness to get around.

 

We went home with that thought, the darkness enveloping the memory that will come to light our way, pristine and primeval, as we face the terrors and surprises of each day.

 

I tell Manang Perting: Do not go anywhere. I will see you in December. We will do a video documentary of your life.

 

I am not going anywhere, she says.

Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya

August 1/09

Dr Godofredo Reyes, MD, came to Nakem

We came to grief, though we could never be the chieftest mourner but Dr. Dedicacion Reyes, who, in the faint light of midnight on July 16 going on July 17, joyfully received us. 

After a long-day affair that included an inconvenient bus ride with Partas de luxe the night before from our base in Manila, a ride that did not come close to an economy service much less de luxe hence the bribe of a pillow from the conductor for one of us perched at the last row with all the noise and the inconveniences imaginable, we decided to pass by Santa Maria to pay our final respects to the great man and the great mind of the Ilocos.

"We" here means: Dr Elizabeth Calinawagan, former dean of the College of Arts and Communications, University of the Philippines Baguio; Dr. Ricardo Ma. Duran Nolasco, former acting chair of the Commission on the Filipino Language and now our partner and collaborator of the 170+Talaytayan MLE where he serves as president; Dr. Jaime Raras, coordinator for research of the University of Northern Philippines Candon; Dr. Noemi Ulep Rosal, director of Nakem Conferences Philippines and professor of the University of the Philippines; Tony Igcalinos, program manager of Unidev and director of ICRI; Lucy Cruz, formerly with the CFL and now assists Dr. Nolasco; and yours truly.

We all came from a whole day affair: a Nakem BOD meet in the morning in Batac; MLE Forum in the afternoon in Laoag, and Sukimat launch, also in Laoag.

Then came the thought of paying our final respects to the man whose mind was one of gravitas, plain and simple.

This thought came in that waning light of Laoag, the light that came from the 'daya' when the 'raya' of the newly-born sun streaks through from the mountains and the trees.

This was the man who came to Nakem Conferences 2007 held in Batac, the first Nakem conference ever held outside the United States.

This was the man who delivered a talk on Ilokano literature through the dean of St. Mary's College who was his sister-in-law. 

Here was a man who came to lend his name and honor and fame to help Nakem find its way in the fuzzy world of organizational work, cultural advocacy, and educational activism.

Here was a man who early on demonstrated his belief in what Nakem can do for Ilokano language and literature, for Amianan cultures, for education to democracy and justice.

                   --------

I did not know he was coming to the conference.  But he came.

I did not know his group that included his wife, Dra Cion, the first president of UNP, prepared a talk for everyone to hear.

But there they were, bracing the miles and miles of distance between Santa Maria and Batac, he on his wheelchair, bound to that medical appendage for some time already, but he came with his whole heart and full soul.

Of course, Dra. Cion came with all the smiles, the motherly countenance we seldom see today, and the caring love only genuine people can give.

I was touched.

I could not speak. "Stupefied" perhaps fits the bill in a situation like that that was a mixture of awe and plenitude of soul. 

Indeed, when language is full, there is only that silence that understands fully. 

It is the silence that does not need words.

Perhaps the realization of "nakem"--that marker for Ilokanoness, that core of being a person of the Amianan--is really this: this plenitude of soul as it encounters with grace, with blessing, and more grace. 

And so I had to go upstage in that conference, asked that the conference would give way to the man who iconically represented what it meant to be a poet of our people. 

Indeed, he was--he will always be--a poet of our people. 

I asked the more than a hundred participants to acknowledge the man who made many things possible for the Ilokanos, for Ilokano and Amianan Studies, and for Ilokano Literature.

Many of those who took part in the 2007 Nakem Conference had not had the chance to meet him but had known him through his medical and political work, and through his health columns in Bannawag, among other works he was known for. 

But on that day--radiant but unspeaking, glowing but in the silence of his full heart--this man came to give us his name, his honor, his fame.

And so on July 16 up to the wee hours of July 17, we went to see him for the last time, he in his sleep that was calm, peaceful, eternal.

                                       

                         ___________

I remember that in the summer of 1982, I won a short story prize from GUMIL Hawai'i, the first short story I have written ("Anniniwan"). There was a poetry contest too and which I joined, where I won the first prize ("In Obiter Dictum"). 

That was my first time to see Dr. Godo: spritely and stately, gentlemanly and respectful.  

He handed me my award: a trophy as tall as a kid. 

Somebody took a snap shot of that event and had it published in the Bannawag, alongside the feature story on the Gumil convention of that year. 

The caption in that snap shot read like "a poet laureate handing an award to a budding poet" or some such juicy words that made my heart stout.  

And stouter each time I go sentimental and cannot fight off the feeling of flipping the pages of that old issue and there see an almost youthful Dr. Godo. 

The last time I would see him was in that state of grace in a glass coffin with all the flowers for the dead man, las flores para muerte. 

I looked around me and the flowers, all competing for attention as if they were all syllables for enunciation at that famous debate of the man with Manuel Gaerlan and Leon Pichay at the Lyric Theatre in Manila, looked so lovely in the midnight hours, with those under the rain catching the pearls of storm water. 

He was peacefully sleeping on that night I saw him for the last time, with a light drizzle and a light breeze from the tail of a storm. Or was it its head?  

In a telephone conversation with the novelist Terry Tugade, I told him about these events coming into some kind of meeting, nexus, juxtaposition. 

I remembered I called these things serendipitous, unable to account the clues to what these things revealed to me.

Ka Terry corrected me right away and said: "There is nothing serendipitous in this. Go look for the deeper connections, for the deeper meanings. Look at what is happening to you now and the defaming that you are receiving and the support of well-meaning writers in your fight for the cause grander than the grandiose selves of pretenders."

Amen, I told Ka Terry.

Even as I remembered these things on that night we went to Dr Godo's wake, Ka Terry called from his sacred place in South San Francisco where once Dr Godo and Greg Laconsay stayed, the two of them sharing Ka Terry's not-so-large bed in his apartment.

I gave the phone to Dr. Cion after our usual courtesies and I was certain Ka Terry expressed his condolences. 

Dra. Cion gave back the phone to me and I had to go find a place where the signal was better.

A few minutes after, Ka Terry began to recall how kind the man was and how generous his wife is. 

Amen, I said again.

Ah, stories are all we are. 

Our narratives complete us. Or they give us some sense of meaning, some sense and meaning.  

Dios ti kumuyog, Dr. Godo. 

Santa Maria, Ilocos Sur, the Philippines

July 17, 2009

Lukat a Sungbat ni Pedro Bubucaig

(Nota Bene: Naipatulod daytoy manipud iti pedrobucbucaig@gmail.com. Pedro Bucbucaig ti nagan ti simmungbat. Copy and paste daytoy, mapaneknekan dagiti nakaawat iti kastoy met laeng a kopia.)

Adda manen 2nd nga silulukat nga surat ni Ric Agnes nga inwarasna!

 

Ngem imbes koma nga nalawagen ti amin, ad-adda met nga mangulaw ken mangkalub iti kinapudno! Ad-ada met nga mang-ballaibo ken mangilupek iti GUMIL!

 

Alawen, adda met kinapudno kadagiti ital-talanggutangna ngem selective met ti policy na, kaluban na dagiti gagayyem ken kakadua na ket kugta-kugtaran na dagiti kabus-busor na nga padana nga mannurat!

 

Isu nga adtoy met nga adda 2nd nga komentaryok.

 

Ulit-uliten ni Agnes nga dak-dakamaten dayta artikulo ni Amado Yoro nga iat-atached na iti emailna a natakuatanen a dinoktorna (Agnes) tapno agparang a ni Bermudez, ken Valdez, ti akinbasol wenno rebbeng a mapabasol iti imbutaktak na nga anomalya iti Bucaneg Awards idi 2007 ken 2008.

 

Kuna ni Agnes:

 

"(B) Saan a nasayaat ti proseso ti panagpipili idi 2008 agsipud ta dua a lawas sakbay a maserraan ti nominasion, addan napili ti selection committee a maikkan iti award.  Ni Precillano Bermudez ti Chairman iti daydi a tawen.  (Naisapit ti artikulo ni Apo Amado Yoro a nangilanadanna kadagiti sursurat kas naagapad iti ngato.)

 

(c) Rumbeng a saan nga agakem ni Precillano Bermudez a kameng ti komite agsipud ta nalawag nga adda pabpaboranna kadagiti mainominar.  (Mapaneknekan daytoy babaen ti suratna (email) ken ni Apo Amado Yoro itay napalabas a tawen.)"

 

Pudno a saan a nasayaat ti proseso ti panagpipili idi 2008  ta dua a lawas sakbay a maserraan ti nominasion, addan napili ti selection committee a maikkan iti award. Apay?

 

Apay nga agpayso? Iti naisapit nga artikulo ni Yoro (saan a mabasa ti nakin-statement iti daytoy ta in-erased ni Agnes, blinanko na ti na-scanned nga article ni Yoro): “Siak ti nangisingasing a maklosanen ti nominasion iti PBA agsipud ta adda metten ni Francis Ponce. Kayatda met isu a ni Apo Francis ti PEDRO BUCANEG AWARDEE ita a tawen.’

 

Apay sinno kadi ti nangibaga iti dayta? Sinno isu nga naginlalaing nga nang-closed iti nominasyon?

 

Daytoy ti kompleto nga paragraph iti orihinal nga article ni Yoro: “Siak ti nangisingasing a maklosanen ti nominasion iti PBA agsipud ta adda metten ni Francis Ponce. Kayatda met isu a ni Apo Francis ti PEDRO BUCANEG AWARDEE ita a tawen.’ Inyemail met ni Elizabeth Madarang Raquel, bise presidente ti Gumil Filipinas.

 

Aha! Ni gayam Elizabeth Madarang Raquel, bise presidente ti Gumil Filipinas!

 

Ngem apay a kasta ti inaramid ni Agnes? Apay nga inikkatna ti nagan ni Raquel iti article?

 

Tapno agparang a dayta nga statement ket katuloy ti statement ni Precillano Bermudez iti article! Ni Precillano Bermudez kano ti chairman ti selection committee idi nga tawen.

 

Iti article ni Yoro kastoy laeng ti imbaga ni Bermudez: “Napintas a personal a maipadamagko: ni Kabsat Francis 'Sabong ti Biag' Ponce, ti kandidatok para iti PEDRO BUCANEG AWARD 2008” , inyemail ni kamannurat Prescillano N. Bermudez, Pedro Bucaneg Awardee 1996; UMPIL 2007, opisial iti Gumil Filipinas ken TMI-G; dati a direktor iti National Media Production Center, ken Philippine Information Agency – Philippines.

 

Ngem agbalin a kastoy no itipon dayta statement ni Raquel: “Napintas a personal a maipadamagko: ni Kabsat Francis 'Sabong ti Biag' Ponce, ti kandidatok para iti PEDRO BUCANEG AWARD 2008” , inyemail ni kamannurat Prescillano N. Bermudez, Pedro Bucaneg Awardee 1996; UMPIL 2007, opisial iti Gumil Filipinas ken TMI-G; dati a direktor iti National Media Production Center, ken Philippine Information Agency – Philippines. “Siak ti nangisingasing a maklosanen ti nominasion iti PBA agsipud ta adda metten ni Francis Ponce. Kayatda met isu a ni Apo Francis ti PEDRO BUCANEG AWARDEE ita a tawen.’"

 

Inikkat ni Agnes ti nagan ni Raquel iti artikulu ni Yoro ngem imbatina ti statement ni Raquel tapno agparang nga tuloy dayta ti statement ni Bermudez!

 

Anyan nga panangdadael ken ni Bermudez! Anian a panangkalub ken panangilisi ken ni Elizabeth Madarang Raquel! Ngem apay?

 

Iti maikadua a surat ni Agnes, maammuantayon. Malaksid a gayyem ni Agnes ni Raquel, isuda pay gayam iti GUMIL Oahu ti nanginominar ken ni Raquel para umawat iti Leona Florentino Awards 2009!

 

Isu met la gayam a kasta la unay ti panang-protektar ni Agnes ken ni Ely Raquel!

 

Wen. Basaenyo pay ti surat ni Agnes: "Ngem awan pannakainaig ti Leona Florentino Awards agsipud ta awan pagilasinan a nasukatsukatan ti pangannurotan daytoy.  No adda man, dayta ti dakkel a liway ti GF agsipud ta dida ipakpakaammo kadagiti kamkameng dagiti baro a pagannurotan. Wenno iranrantada ti agilimed tapno maaramidda ti panagmanipulateda?"

 

Kayat nga ilisi ni Agnes ni gayyem da iti GUMIL Oahu nga Raquel ket ibaga na nga awan kano ti anomalya met ti Leona Awards! A no adda man kano pabasolen na ti GF! Ngem dina met pabasolen nga mismo ni Raquel? Kayat ni Agnes nga tiritiren ti kinapudno tapno isalakan na ni Raquel nga innominar da kas umawat met iti awards!

 

Ngem imbagan ni Rogie Baysa: "nasupusopan ti paglintegan iti Pedro Bucaneg ken Leona Florentino Awards... Ta no dimi tungpalen daytoy, saan koma met a nagun-odan ni Apo Elizabeth Madarang -Raquel nga innomenario dita Hawaii iti Leona Florentino Awards. Awan pay 60 a tawen ni Madam Ely. Ngarud, awan pay koma ti karbenganna nga umawat iti dayta a pammadayaw."

 

Imbataden ni Baysa: "nasupusopan ti paglintegan iti Pedro Bucaneg ken Leona Florentino Awards." Ngem apay a kuna ni Agnes nga awan pagilasinan a nasukatan ti pagannurotan ti Leona Awards? Ket ti laeng Bucaneg Awards kano ti adda? Ni Baysa nga mismon ti nangibaga nga ti Bucaneg ken Leona, agpada a nasukatan dagiti pagannurotanna tapno maiyannatop iti kayat da nga maikkan iti award! Asino aya ni Baysa? Isu ti agdama nga secretary general ti GUMIL Filipinas! Ngarud ammo na amin a mapaspasamak iti GF! Adda amin kania na ti amin docomentos, amin a minutes ti meeting no adda, amin a resulutions no adda! Apay nga i-ignore ni Agnes a saan a karaman ti Leona Awards agraman pay dadduma nga awards nga itited ti GF? Maigapu ken ni Raquel nga gayyem na! Maigapu ta isu da iti GUMIL Oahu ti nagnominar ken ni Raquel! Ni Raquel a maysa no diman isu ti kangrunaan nga manipulator iti awards committee ti GF (agasem ta i-closed nan ti nominasyon idinto nga adu koma pay ti sumangpet nga nominasyon adayo pay ti deadline!)

 

Ania daytoyen a panangkalub iti kinapudno!

 

No koma ti panggep ni Agnes ket ti manglaw-lawag ken mangipalgak iti kinapudno, saan koma nga kastoy nga selective wenno adda an-anaken na! Awan serbi na dayta nga addang na wenno krusada na no kapada na met laeng dagiti inna ak-akusaran nga adda kalkaluban ken pabpaboran da!

 

Maysa pay nga makapadusngi ditoy nga 2nd open letter ni Agnes, nagkamang kano iti dua nga mannurat ket maysa ni Peter La. Julian!

 

Ania? Ni Julian nga apo-apo da iti TMI ni Teresito Tugade, lamlamiongen ni Agnes tapno alaen na ti opinion na?

 

Nakakatkatawa daytoyen! Ni Agnes ti makuna nga numero unon san nga kabusor ken detractor ti TMI! Ken numero unon sa met nga kabusor ken detractor ni Tugade (nga ibag-baga ni Agnes nga nagpamakan ken nagpa-bulalu kano tapno agawen na dagiti GUMIL members!) No malagipyo, ni Agnes adda open letter na man idin iti GUMIL ket paik-ikkat na dagiti TMI members kas kameng ti GF! Gapu dayta iti personal nga gura na ken Tugade nga pabpabasolen na nga agrek-rekrut iti downline na kano iti Xango! Ita, ania ti pamkuatan na nga mangikamang iti reklamo na ken ni Julian nga pasurot ni Tugade? Ni Julian nga ari-ari dagiti TMI iti Isabela?

 

Ti nakakatkatawa, dardaras met nga kimmagat iti appan ni Agnes daytoy nga Julian! Nagyat met nga nagpalam-lammiong! Nangted met nga sigud iti masao na nga kasla praise release wenno blurb iti libro ni Agnes! Siyempre, maawatan tayo uray ngata ilako ni Julian ti kararwa na met iti diyablo makabales la ketdi kadagiti kabusor na iti GUMIL! Napintas nga oportunidad dayta tapno mapatamaan na manen dagiti apo-apo iti agdama nga lideratu ti GUMIL!

 

Ngem ania laengen ti makuna met ni Tugade nga founder ti TMI iti inaramid ni Julian a nakikunsabo metten ken ni Agnes a #1 detractor ken destroyer ken nemesis ti TMI?

 

Ala para iti pagimbagan dayta ti GUMIL ken litiratura Iluko, irason met ngata a ni Julian! Nasayaat laeng no kasta koma laeng.

 

Ngem sakbay koma nga mangted iti makunana ni Julian, anagen na koma nga nalaing dagiti taltalanggutangen ni Agnes. Kas ita, nalawag nga inusar ni Agnes ni Julian tapno mai-advance na ti ginugulib met ngarud nga cause ken krusada na! Nga natakuatan tayon nga manipulated ken ulaw-ulaw maigapu iti selective policy na! Nagbalin nga kasla utu-utu ditoy ni Julian ta sinikbab na nga dagus ti inyayat ni Agnes nga appan na nga igges!

 

Awan lat nasayaaten kadagituy nga gum-gumil ken titi-em-ay! Puro rinuker da amin!

 

Dapat na agpenitensya dagituy nga sapliten da iti riduma ken siit dagiti labos nga bukot da! Wenno agpai-lansa da iti kurus! Tapnu maugasan ti bas-basol da!

 

Pakawanem Apo ta ammo da met ti araramiden da ngem agindidiammo da!

 

 

PATHOLOGIES OF ILOKANO POETICS 4

One of the problems of Ilokano writing and the practice that goes with that writing is the almost impossibility of ‘critique’ that we can clearly call ‘Ilokano.’

 

‘Critique in Ilokano’ could be a difficult phrase, but we can clarify: it means that reflexive act of those who have something to say about Ilokano poetics, in any language, but ideally in the languages that are accessible to many of the more informed Ilokano writers.

 

That something that a critique can say about Ilokano poetics is a well-thought out understanding of the patterns of writing that we have produced in the interest of our people and in the interest of sustaining that vitality and vigor of our language and culture.

 

In effect, Ilokano critique is an erotic act: creative, creating, conscious, constructive; it is sharing in that eternal act of Eros to renew the world.

 

It is opposed to the act of decapitation—as by the act of Thanatus—as being practiced by some of the writers trying to write by populating the blank spaces of message boards with trash.

 

Theirs is a destructive act indeed, deathly and deadly; it is an act filled with arsenic; it is an act with no political and aesthetic power to redeem and reclaim.  

 

Critique, in whatever form, is of course impossible to ‘idiots’ passing themselves off as writers, Ilokano writers pretending to be informed, and Ilokano idiots pretending to be the serious and grand writers we have always been awaiting. No, their act is grandiose but never, never grand: feigned, affected, pompous.

 

Include in these the idiots pretending to have other names—or worse, hiding behind a name or names.

 

If this is not Sybil for you—and if we are not going to have that boldness and daring to unmask this pathological condition of Ilokano poetics; and if we continue to believe in the lies these anonymous Ilokano writers peddle for everybody to read and consume in the cyberspace world, secure as they are in their anonymity, and so darn insecure in the courage and daring and boldness they have, if at all they have any of those, then there is no reason why we keep on with this struggle to sustain our sense of self and community and heritage.

 

For here are idiots on message boards who worry about the inane without looking into contexts, them the bigoted lot of writers who know only how to make a scratch and call that writing for goodness sake!

 

The elision to anonymity by people pretending to know what Ilokano poetics is must be judged as an act of cowardice and by the rule of the principle of ethics, these people, while either coward or ignorant or both, are still held liable for what they write about, particularly their penchant to decapitate other people, stand on the decapitated bodies of the people, and rise up and rule the world of Ilokano writing.

 

This is an obnoxious practice and the message boards of some Ilokano writers are filled with these writings on the wall that do not merit any second look except to say, woebegone.

 

It really is—a real ‘sayang.’

 

How can anyone who thinks of herself or himself as an ethically informed writer have that courage to remain anonymous while at the same time naming her or his enemy?

 

This situation is without merit in critique—at least the reflexive kind, the real kind that we are saying in this series.

 

For, indeed, critique is a species of conversation, that kind of a conversation that we fall into.

 

Or human communication—if  you will.

 

And in conversation, there is that mystical, almost sacred act of ‘falling’ into it, enthralled, seduced, mesmerized, because in the event of summoning the healing and creating power of words, there, there is language in its silences, gaps, gulfs, and possibilities.

 

You call this symmetry, that exchange and diffusion, that to-and-fro, that ‘betweening’ or ‘middling’ so that a new world could come about, with one conversation partner ever ready to listen while the other conversation partner talks, and always, always, in a vice versa way.

 

And these idiots?

 

Tell them to read the critical hermeneuts.

 

Or tell them to ask Ka Loren what this is.

 

One observer of the pathological condition of our Ilokano life wrote to me: Why, on earth, are you blogging those obnoxious messages on your site?

 

I wrote him back: I am not going to allow our people to forget. Trace is trace even in a palimpsest, even in the palimpsest of our pathologic Ilokano writing lives.

 

In memory, there, there is going to be our relief after these long days of poetic bereavement. 

 

A S Agcaoili/Hon, HI/Feb 8/09