The Editorial Board of The Masses is republishing the following first selection of poems by Jose Maria “Ka Joma” Sison from the collection of his poems The Guerilla is Like a Poet. Jose Maria Sison was a Filipino revolutionary, poet, writer, and founding chairman of the Communist Party of the Philippines, which he was the leading figure in re-constituting on December 26, 1968. He later served as Chief Political Consultant to the National Democratic Front in peace negotiations with the reactionary Philippine State. Arrested by the Marcos dictatorship in 1977, Sison spent nearly nine years as a political prisoner, much of it in solitary confinement, a period in which he continued to write and produced much of the poetry later collected in prison and beyond.
Released in 1986, he was forced into exile in the Netherlands in 1988, where the Philippine reactionary government continued to pursue him with terrorist designations while he remained the Party’s leading theoretician until his death in Utrecht on December 16, 2022. Sison’s poetry, as his political writing under the pen name Amado Guerrero, meaning “beloved warrior”, treated revolutionary struggle as the lived discipline of the masses in arms, a discipline he shared to the end of his days.
| The Guerrilla Is Like a Poet | Ang Gerilya Ay Tulad ng Makata |
The guerrilla is like a poet Keen to the rustle of leaves The break of twigs The ripples of the river The smell of fire And the ashes of departure. The guerrilla is like a poet. He has merged with the trees The bushes and the rocks Ambiguous but precise Well-versed on the law of motion And master of myriad images. The guerrilla is like a poet. Enrhymed with nature The subtle rhythm of the greenery The inner silence, the outer innocence The steel tensile in-grace That ensnares the enemy. The guerrilla is like a poet. He moves with the green brown multitude In bush burning with red flowers That crown and hearten all Swarming the terrain as a flood Marching at last against the stronghold. An endless movement of strength Behold the protracted theme: The people’s epic, the people’s war. -1968 | Ang gerilya ay tulad ng makata Matalas sa kaluskos ng mga dahon Sa pagkabali ng mga sanga Sa mga onda ng ilog Sa amoy ng apoy At sa abo ng paglisan. Ang gerilya ay tulad ng makata Nakasanib sa mga puno Sa mga palumpong at rokas Nakakaalangan subalit tumpak Bihasa sa batas ng paggalaw Pantas sa laksang larawan. Ang gerilya ay tulad ng makata Karima ng kalikasan Ng sutlang ritmo ng kaluntian Katahimikang panloob, kamusmusang panlabas Aserong tibay ng panatag na loob Na sumisilo sa kaaway. Ang gerilya ay tulad ng makata Kasabay ng luntiang, kayumangging masa Sa palumpong na pinaliliyab ng mga pulang bulaklak Na nagkokorona at nagpapaalab sa lahat, Dumadagsa sa kalupaan tulad ng baha Nagmamartsa sa wakas laban sa kuta. Walang hanggang daloy ng lakas, Masdan ang matagalang tema Ng epikong bayan, ng digmang bayan. -1968 |
| Sometimes, the Heart Yearns for Mangoes | Minsa’y Sabik ang Puso sa Mangga |
Sometimes, the heart yearns For mangoes where there are apples, For orchids where there are tulips, For warmth, where it is cold, For mountainous islands, Where there is flatland. Far less than the home, And the flow of kith and kin, Unfamiliar and now familiar Things and places trigger The pain of sundered relations, Of losses by delays and default. Direct dialing, fax machines, Computer discs and video casettes And visitors on jumbo jets, Fail to close the gap Between rehearsed appearances And the unrehearsed life at home. There are colleagues and friends That make a strange land loveable. But they have their routines, Their own lives to live, Beyond the comprehension And pertinence of the stranger. Those who seek to rob the exile Of home, kith and kin, Of life, limb and liberty Are the loudest to mock at him Who is helplessly at sea, Uprooted from his soil. The well-purposed exile continues To fight for his motherland Against those who banished him, The unwelcomed exploiters of his people, And is certain that he is at home In his own country and the world. -30 March 1994 | Kung minsan, sabik ang puso Sa mangga kung saan may mansanas Sa orkidya kung saan may tulipa Sa init kung saan maginaw Sa mabundok na kapuluan Kung saan kapatagan. Malayong kulang sa tahanan At daloy ng kaibiga’t kaanak Di-gamay at ngayo’y gamay Na mga bagay at lugar ay nang-uudyok Ng kirot sa patid na mga ugnay, Sa mga kabiguan dahil sa antala’t kaligta. Direct dialing, fax machine Computer disc at video cassette At mga bisitang lulan ng jet Bigong paglapitin Ang inensayong pamalas At di-inensayong buhay sa tahanan. May mga kaliga at kaibigan Na nagpapaaya sa dinayong lupa Subalit may sarili silang mga gawi, Sariling takbo ng mga buhay Na lampas sa pagkaunawa At kinalaman ng dayuhan. Yaong mga nais magkait sa destiyero Ng tahanan, kaibiga’t kaanak, Ng buhay, katawan at kalayaan Ang pinakamaingay na mangutya sa kanya Na lutang siya sa dagat, Hugot ang ugat mula sa sariling lupa. Patuloy ang may layuning destiyero Na ipaglaban ang kanyang inangbayan Laban sa mga nagpalayas sa kanya, Ang mga inaayawang nagsasamantala sa bayan At tiyak niyang siya’y nananahanan Sa sariling bayan at sa sandaigdigan. -30 Marso 1994 |
| The Bladed Poem | Ang Tulang may Talim |
| Behold the bladed poem Tensile and razor-sharp Cold and glinting silver In the light or dark. See how the blackbird Of a hilt flies Bedecked with pearls On the firm mobile hand. Look at each face On the leaf of steel, The virile subtle flames, Images of incised gold. On one face are toilers Varied with pike and ore, Crucible, hammer and anvil, Water and whetstone. Plow and carabao on soil, The oyster in the sea, Carving and etching tools, Bowl of acid on a table. On the other face Are the same workmen massed Upright and poised to fight Behind the radiant flag. The uprising completes The figures of labor And urges another surge With the well-versed weapon. Grasp well the bladed poem And let it sing in your hands. This kampilan is a talisman Of the people in red headbands. –1 March 1982 | Masdan ang tulang may talim Matibay at sintalas ng labaha Malamig at kumikinang na pilak Sa liwanag o sa dilim. Tingnan kung paano lumilipad Ang ibong-itim na puluhang Pinaganda ng mga perlas Sa matatag at maliksing kamay. Suriin ang bawat mukha Sa dahong asero, Ang mga matipuno’t pinong liyab, Mga iniukit na gintong larawan. Sa isang mukha’y mga anakpawis, Sari-saring may piko at mineral, Pugon, martilyo at pandayan, Tubig at batong hasaan. Araro at kalabaw sa lupa, Mga talaba sa dagat, Mga gamit panlilok at pang-ukit, Mangkok ng asido sa mesa. Sa kabilang mukha Ang mga anakpawis pa ring nakatipon Nakatindig at handang lumaban Sa likod ng nagniningning na watawat. Linulubos ng pagbalikwas Ang mga anyo ng paggawa At inuudyok ang bagong pagsulong, Taglay ang matatas na sandata. Tanganan ang tulang may talim At paawitin sa inyong mga kamay. Ang kampilang ito ay agimat Ng mga mamamayang may potong na pula. –1 Marso 1982 |
[Image Source: National Democratic Front of the Philippines]
