The Editorial Board of The Masses is republishing the following second 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 Giant Oak | Ang Higanteng Roble |
| (Tribute to Comrade Mao Zedong) In the bitterness of winter The giant oak stands erect, A hundred years old, A tower of countless seasons. The mayflies of summer Are no match to the oak And the merciless cold. He who has departed But whose spirit lives on And cannot be exorcised By all sorts of sorcerers Is sometimes carved out From a branch of the oak In the image of his foes For rituals to steal The magic of his name. There are the kisses of betrayal On the parchment, Droning incantations of sacrilege And myths of infamy Against his great memory. When foes are haunted By his thoughts and deeds They are in mortal fear Of the living force inspired For the bigger battles ahead, As the light and darkness Clash in the horizon And as the best and the worst Are driven to define themselves. –26 December 1993 | (Parangal kay Kasamang Mao Zedong) Sa tindi ng taglamig Tuwid ang tindig ng higanteng roble Sandaantaong gulang, Tore ng di-mabilang na mga panahon. Ang mga langaw ng tag-araw Ay walang laban sa roble At sa walang awang lamig. Siyang pumanaw na Subalit ang diwa’y buhay pa At di kayang paalisin Ng sarisaring manggagaway Minsa’y nilililok Sa sanga ng roble Kawangki ng kanyang mga katunggali Sa mga ritwal para nakawin Ang mahika ng kanyang ngalan. May mga halik ng pagkakanulo Sa pergamino, Umuugong ng dalanging lapastangan At mga alamat ng kasamaan Laban sa dakila niyang alaala. Pag binabagabag ang mga kaaway Ng kanyang diwa’t gawa, Sinasaklot sila ng takot Sa buhay na lakas na pinasisigla, Para sa mas malalaking labanan sa hinaharap, Habang ang liwanag at dilim Ay nagtutunggali sa abot-tanaw At habang ang pinakamabuti at pinakamasama Ay natutulak na maglahad ng sarili. -26 Disyembre 1993 |
| Against the Monster on the Land | Against the Monster on the Land |
| For centuries the monster on the land Has gorged himself on flesh and blood. Now he wields a brittle rusty sword And still casts a spell with a cross. We go with the children of wrath And prepare a trap across his path: A net of vine holding a carpet of leaves Covers the pit full of bamboo spears. When he stumbles into the hungry hole And raves and writhes among the poles He shall see the children of the soil Casting upon him buckets of flaming oil. The night shall flee from the flames. These shall rage until the break of day And merge with the glory of the sun. The monster shall have been gone. His sword shall break by a hammer blow On a rock from which a sweet spring flows. The fragments of the sword we shall gather To fashion new things by the hammer. The children of the soil shall be freed Of yoke and terror in their country. They shall stand against any monster And win by wit and engulfing number. The festival of the children of the soil Is the festival of all children of toil. We joyously sing and dance with them As the ancient monster comes to an end. –17 March 1978 | Daan-daang taon nang nagpakasasa Sa laman at dugo ang halimaw sa lupa. Ngayon tangan ang espadang dupok sa kalawang At gamit pa ang gayuma ng krus. Sama tayo sa mga anak ng galit At umangan ng bitag ang kanyang daan Lambat na baging na binanigan ng mga dahon Panakip sa hukay na siksik sa matutulis na kawayan. Kapag nahulog siya sa gutom na hukay At magsisigaw at mamilipit sa matutulis na tikin Mapapatingala siya sa mga anak ng lupa Na sa kanya’y balde-baldeng langis na umaapoy ang ibinubuhos. Tatakas ang gabi sa mga liyab, Lalagablab hanggang bukang-liwayway At sasanib sa luwalhati ng araw. Pumanaw na noon ang halimaw. Espada niya’y mababasag sa bayo ng maso Sa malaking batong bukal ng matamis na batis. Mga tatal ng espada’y ating titipunin Upang mga bagong bagay sa maso’y hubugin. Lalaya ang mga anak ng lupa Sa singkaw at lagim sa sariling bayan. Titindig sila laban sa anumang halimaw At sa talino’t panalikop na bilang ay magtatagumpay. Ang pista ng mga anak ng lupa Ay pista ng tanang anakpawis. Sa kanila malugod tayong makiawit at makisayaw Sa pagpanaw ng sinaunang halimaw. –17 Marso 1978 |
| Like a Giant, Like a Bird | Tulad ng Higante, Tulad ng Ibon |
| In the concrete conditions of prison, The devil has a big advantage. Even the demons press their power, Swaggering like big monsters. They call the prisoner an ant They can fool and play with. But the revolutionary spirit can win, Whatever is the devil’s scheme. No matter how tight the cell, It is an arena of struggle, A part of the wide front Of the people’s surging resistance. The courageous fight in prison Joins the irresistible tide Of the revolutionary struggle springing From the bosom of the motherland. Crush the body of the prisoner Who has a firm and lofty stand, His spirit resists and endures. It lives on in the spirit of the masses. The heroic prisoner is like a giant; He draws strength from the masses, His spirit is like a bird looking down: Oh, how small are all the monsters below! –16 December 1977 | Sa kongkretong kalagayan ng bilangguan, Napakalaki ang lamang ng diyablo. Pati mga demonyo’y nagdidiin ng kapangyarihan nila Kumakayangkang tulad ng malalaking halimaw. Tinatawag nilang langgam ang bilanggo Na maloloko at mapaglalaruan nila. Ngunit makakapanaig ang diwang rebolusyonaryo, Anuman ang pakana ng diyablo. Gaano man kasikip ang selda, Isang arena ito ng pakikibaka, Bahagi ng malawak na larangan Ng dumadaluyong na pakikibaka ng bayan. Ang magiting na laban sa bilangguan Ay dumurugtong sa di-mapigil na agos Ng rebolusyonaryong pakikibakang bumubukal Sa dibdib ng inang-bayan. Durugin man ang katawan ng bilanggong Matatag at matayog ang paninindigan, Ang kanyang diwa’y lumalaban at nananatili. Patuloy na nabubuhay sa diwa ng masa. Ang bayaning bilanggo ay tulad ng higante; Humahango siya ng lakas mula sa masa, Ang kanyang diwa ay tulad ng ibong tumatanaw: Ah, kayliit ng lahat ng halimaw sa ibaba! –16 Disyembre 1977 |
| US Is the Terrorist Monster | US ang Teroristang Halimaw |
The us has not yet paid for the blood debt In killing 1.5 million of the Filipino people And has not cared to give even an apology As it continues to violate their sovereignty And enjoy the bounty of successful aggression And treachery with impunity and utmost arrogance. The Filipino people have suffered the terrorism Of us imperialism for so long, as if without end, And with the help of its puppet accomplices, It designates as terrorist and further represses The victims and the revolutionary forces Who fight for national and social liberation. Empires have come and gone in history. US imperialism and capitalism are not eternal. The people strive to undercut and topple The power of the system that oppresses them. The people cannot accept the terrorist monster Maligning as terrorist their heroes and forces. –August 2013 | Hindi pa nagbabayad ang us sa inutang na dugo Sa pagpaslang ng 1.5 milyong mamamayang Pilipino At hindi pa humihingi ng patawad man lamang Habang patuloy na lumalabag sa kanilang soberanya At nagtatamasa ng biyaya sa matagumpay na agresyon At kataksilang walang parusa at sukdulang kapalaluan. Nagdurusa ang sambayanang Pilipino sa terorismo Ng imperyalismong us nang kay tagal na, wari’y walang hanggan, At sa tulong ng mga papet na kasabwat, Itinuturing bilang mga terorista at lalo pang sinusupil Ang mga biktima at pwersang rebolusyonaryo Na lumalaban para sa pambansa at panlipunang paglaya. Sumusulpot at naglalaho ang mga imperyo sa kasaysayan. May katapusan din ang imperyalismong us at kapitalismo. Pinagsisikapan ng sambayanan na pahinain at igupo Ang kapangyarihan ng sistemang nang-aapi sa kanila. Hindi matatanggap ng bayan ang paninira ng teroristang halimaw Na tawaging terorista ang kanilang mga bayani at pwersa. –Agosto 2013 |
[Image Source: Philippine Revolution Web Central, Ang Bayan]
