In Waray

Paglaba
ni Voltaire Q. Oyzon

Katima mo gìkan
ginlulungtod ko an at' mga bunakan
ha butnga han binitad nga taklap
basi igbalotan, dad-on nga't ha sàlog
upod an panay ngan pakang.

San-o ko pahuroman,
linain ko an di-kolor
ngan busag.

Tima, sabonon.
Tima, kurokus-on;
paglambahon han pakang
an naawil nga mga baho.
Tima latakan,
bulyasan.

Upod han mga buring ug bura,
igin-anod han daganas han Himanglos
an ak ha im' hinumdoman.

Samtang pinanmamalaypay ko
an magbusag-busag ko nga binunakan—
nangalimwag an alimyon han imo
panapton—
may pag-iliw nga umalop ha akon dughan.

Pastilan, kun nalalabhan la ini nga
dughan
akon gud ini paglalatakan.

Laundry

Once you were gone,
I threw the laundry
into the middle of a spread blanket
to wrap them to bring to the river
with the wooden basin and the clothes paddle

Before soaking them
I sorted the colored fabrics
from the white.
This done, I soaped them,
rubbing and scrubbing carefully each piece.
Then I beat the clothes with the wooden paddle,
the better to rid them of any lingering smell.
Then I spread them out to bleach in the sun.
Only then did I rinse them out.

The dirt and the soapsuds together
were swept in the current of Himanglos river
along with any memory of you.
While I was hanging the clothes out to dry—
So white and clean now—
Your fragrance bloomed from your clothes.

A certain longing pierced my heart.
Mercy me, if it were possible to launder
One’s heartaches away, I’d bleach mine in the sun.

—Translated from Waray by Merlie M. Alunan

© Voltaire Q. Oyzon