Eileen R. Tabios
introduces VERSES TYPHOON YOLANDA: A Storm of Filipino Poets (Meritage Press,
San Francisco & St. Helena, CA, 2014)
EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION
…the largest storm ever recorded on
land, with winds nearing 200 mph and gusts up to 235 mph … unleashing massive
waves … more than 11 million people affected … homeless … starving … over 6,000
dead (officials reluctant to estimate higher for bad political P.R.) even as
20-30 corpses a day continue to be
discovered under the debris, over half a million missing, about 6
million displaced … not just “dead city” Tacloban but also Samar, Iloilo, Panay
Island, ... a newly-born girl dying days after the typhoon despite her mother
and father trading shifts in manually blowing air into her lungs because there
is no power …
I conceptualized and serve
as editor for this anthology—I wish this book did not exist.
I’m reluctant to write on
Typhoon Haiyan, known as Yolanda in the Philippines. My mood seems to be akin to what’s addressed
in this anthology by the poems of Angelo R. Lacuesta and John Robert Luna. I
did think of an idea for a poem—I would have titled it “Storm Cloud” and,
punning off the term “cloud computing” for describing computing concepts that involve a large number
of computers connected through real-time communication networks like the Internet, would have gathered phrases taken from media
coverage of the disaster. It could have
been a powerful poem, annotating from survivors’
stories to the lack of body bags to the hunger strike of Yeb Sano (the Philippines' lead negotiator at the United Nations
climate change summit in Warsaw) to warnings about corrupt politicians
using relief donations to promote themselves or punish perceived government
rebels to the mobilized return of volunteer nurses who had been part of the
Philippines’ “export” of health care workers to Western countries to the
generous (thank you!) U.S.-American relief activities also serving its government’s
military public relations in Asia to the suddenly new orphans… Well, it was promising but I chose not to
write it—instead, my poem-contribution to this book is one written in 2006
after a landslide in Leyte. The older poem relates to Typhoon Yolanda because
both events reflect adverse effects of climate change—symbolically, I also
choose to “recycle” a poem in a nod for reducing one’s footprint on earth.
Still, a poet’s job is to
make a poem and poets are moved to write by what moves them—Typhoon Yolanda and
her aftermaths are certainly resonant.
By sharing their poems through this anthology, the Filipino poets were
also moved to contribute their efforts towards a fundraising: all book sale
profits will be donated to relief organizations helping the survivors of
Typhoon Yolanda. (If you would like to
use this book as a fundraiser for Yolanda survivors, feel free to contact me at
MeritagePress@aol.com) I’m sure I speak for all the poets when we share
our hope that our modest contribution helps, and in this fashion also extend
our love to our kababayan.
One
of my contributions as editor is the order in which the poems are
presented. The order reflects a
narrative that I started to feel surface as I read through all of the
poems. While each individual poem may be
powerful, the poems together create a sum-effect greater than its parts. What results is both novelistic in scope and
urgent in communicating the news. For the news continue beyond the actual
incident and aftermath of Typhoon Yolanda.
The news continue about how our actions degrade the environment and each
other, making likely the return of Yolanda’s brethren…unless we amend our
actions. These damaging actions even
confuse our young—one of the poets in this book is 19-year-old Jasmin Ado and
she appropriately asks: How can elders (parents, teachers, friars) teach the
youth “to treat people nice and kind” when “my eyes witness // how indulgence /
squandered the / consciousness of many— // I see their victims / through
the television, / newspapers and even / my windows & / my windshield”? How, indeed?
The answer, or part of it, can certainly be read in Von Torres’ poem
“tahimik” (which translates from Tagalog as “quiet” or “silent”):
quiet
ourselves from money
quiet
ourselves from fear
quiet
ourselves from shame
quiet
ourselves from time
quiet
ourselves from religion
quiet
ourselves from power
quiet
ourselves from silence
*
As with many of my poetry
projects, this anthology is community-based and, in this case, within the
community of Filipino poets (in the homeland and diaspora). While most poems
are in English, the Filipino languages are represented by poems in a few
Filipino languages: Filipino, Cebuano, Waray, Hiligaynon and Bisaya. Originally an Ilocano, I do not know these
featured languages but reviewed them based on their English translations with
the help of their authors. In addition,
while I had desired the sonic pun of “verses” and “versus,” I was happy to
accept the title’s final form as suggested by Luisa A. Igloria. For me, to be
Filipino with our history of centuries of colonialism, requires being vigilant
that “editor” means collaboration and is never synonymous with “dictator” on
how a group project unfolds.
Thanks as well to Leny
Mendoza Strobel for providing a Foreword.
Her point of view is appreciated because of her ground-breaking studies
into the decolonized Filipino self and how
pakikipag-kapwa/building-a-beloved-community is an indigenous part of Filipino
identity. I appreciate her thoughts, for the eagerness with which Filipino
poets embraced this project manifests the indigenous Filipino trait of Kapwa.
May the poems provide succor
but also, where apt, anger. And may this
book be worth the trees cut to provide its paper.
Eileen R. Tabios
Editor
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