SONGBIRD’S MELODY

SONGBIRD’S MELODY

Erle Frayne Argonza y Delago

Songbird of the country

Please sing your tunes tirelessly

On valleys and hills

Sing afloat your theatre of amusement!

You are forever rewarded

With rice, shelter, care

By humble folks who truly cherish you.

Sing!

Sing for them! – the poor and wretched—

They who were left forlorn

By trusted lords

By false guardians of welfare

By deified magnates;

They who are now casting

New lives for themselves

New hopes toward betterment.

O! Songbird so dear!

Lift them up from slumber!

[Writ. 26 May 1988, Proj. 8, Quezon City, M.Manila.]

SONGBIRD’S MELODY

SONGBIRD’S MELODY

Erle Frayne Argonza y Delago

Songbird of the country

Please sing your tunes tirelessly

On valleys and hills

Sing afloat your theatre of amusement!

You are forever rewarded

With rice, shelter, care

By humble folks who truly cherish you.

Sing!

Sing for them! – the poor and wretched—

They who were left forlorn

By trusted lords

By false guardians of welfare

By deified magnates;

They who are now casting

New lives for themselves

New hopes toward betterment.

O! Songbird so dear!

Lift them up from slumber!

[Writ. 26 May 1988, Proj. 8, Quezon City, M.Manila.]

MARSHES OF CANDABA

Erle Frayne Argonza y Delago


When hawks and other living flyers
Set foot on swampy fields for feeding
Tis a marvelous sight that glows the eyes
As mark of platonic appreciation

Where muddy waters used to fill
The air with constant foul-smelling vapors
And gift the neighboring men and women
With malaria and ailments and more
And leave no space that’s fertile enough
For crops and edible greens
And there vehicles run agog
When torrents bring oceanic floods
No more is this worthy of anyone’s esteem
Than to ignore it for its fecal state

Melons and fruits and rice now abound
In this once noxious forbidden land
No more is Hope rekindled the better
Than on the marshes of Candaba

Fly! Fly! Beloved Eagle to the peasant’s nest!
And laud him with your hymns of joy
For his victorious heartwarming travails on swamps
Indeed make him a true human champion.


[Writ. 06 June 1988, Proj. 8, Quezon City, M.Manila]

SONGBIRD’S MELODY

Erle Frayne Argonza y Delago


Songbird of the country
Please sing your tunes tirelessly
On valleys and hills
Sing afloat your theatre of amusement!

You are forever rewarded
With rice, shelter, care
By humble folks who truly cherish you.

Sing!
Sing for them! – the poor and wretched—

They who were left forlorn
By trusted lords
By false guardians of welfare
By deified magnates;
They who are now casting
New lives for themselves
New hopes toward betterment.

O! Songbird so dear!
Lift them up from slumber!

[Writ. 26 May 1988, Proj. 8, Quezon City, M.Manila.]

IN FLIGHT (Poem 45)

Erle Frayne Argonza y Delago


I’ve assembled the elements of next
Circumstances. They are built no less
By the urgency that has sprung
From the deepest recesses of the unconscious mind
Of watering down things to be watered
Or nailing fixtures in places where they’re utile.

So in the making of flights
I’ve had my luggage prepared
Had my mind attuned to the look-alikes
Of the next here-and-now
As when the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle
Are together fitted so neatly
Each piece has been glued into place
In the templates of my biographical trails.

I’ve but few pieces to fit in:
The good rest while waiting for the flight
And the exciting moment when my Wings
Shall send me skyward.


[Writ. 06 Oct. 1987, Univ. of the Philippines, Quezon City, M.Manila.]

IN FLIGHT (Poem 43)

Erle Frayne Argonza y Delago

Dwindling verdant environs sadden me.
Will I in flight be rest assured
That tempestuous over-exploitation shall spare
The last remaining flora of endeared Mother Earth?

Our dream of finally containing
The mad urges to fell woods and ravage flora
Is fading like flickering flames of a candle.
‘Twas refurbished as part
Of the bizarre landscape of obscurantism
That has been deviously superimposed
Upon the benign canvass of civility.

O! Green leaves and all the myriad
Colorful flowers in your company
You are all starry jewels before my eyes!
My heart is filled with enjoyment
Over your untarnished affection.
Do you not long for one like me
Who’s almost trapped forever in the cages
Of mortal man’s edifices?

O! Dearest plants, you who make me sober,
Give me solace in times of torment
Add vitality to my being,
Deserve the undying care of all mankind
Even as you kept your pledge to Mother Earth
That you shall nourish all creatures alike.


[Writ. 24 Sept. 1987, Univ. of the Philippines, Quezon City, M.Manila.]

IN FLIGHT (Poem 42)

Erle Frayne Argonza y Delago


In flight
Never shall I neglect the teaching
I’ve learned then as an enthused Thespian:
My acting out of roles in the theatre stage
Is the sublime act of shaping my acting out
Of myriad roles in the world of the here-and-now
Where one confronts multitudes of audiences
The roles I portray as plenty as millions of mushrooms
Spread across the verdant backdrop of the Earth.

For if before the audiences I’d make sense
As one whose message was accepted with clarity
Even as the rhythms and moods
And my own body language enabled the convincing
Then I’m as good as a man of success.

Each time of course that my theatrics
Undercut the audiences’ doubtings
Rendering my message unto exotic food.


[Writ. 23 Sept. 1987, Univ. of the Philippines, Quezon City, M.Manila.]

IN FLIGHT (Poem 41)

Erle Frayne Argonza y Delago


What ought I search for further?
In flight what more things to share?
Thanks so much my mind’s so nourished,
Experiences learned. All thoughts
And actions mutually enrich each other.
This truth my growing up had unearthed
From the deep mines of Olympus
As I’ve walked the face of the Earth.

I mentored for a half and three years
A thousand apprentices in its span.
How many were my Adepts, assured at least
There are. But I to them was an Adept too
As I am to all fellowmen.
Will I mentor more? Shall I mentor more?
I’d gladly do so for as long as I can.

If the aged are to the young their teachers
Likewise if the young are to their elders
Then the rolling of the times approaching
Will ensue smoothly like all thorns were swept off
Along the infinite stretch of road.

[Writ. , 1987, Univ. of the Philippines, Quezon City, M.Manila.]

IN FLIGHT (Poem 39)

Erle Frayne Argonza y Delago


Let me in flight bear the tricky vogue
Of breathing. ‘Tis no plain engulfing of air
Deep into our bag breathers and then breath-out.

Breathe the air of Life!
Don’t ever breathe like one who’ll later walk
Like an intoxicated cockroach dazed.
Don’t ever breathe so un-artfully whence later
You’re cast down as a phlegmatic mammal.

Breathe the substance of Life
That’s when the pumping is gentle
And rubbish air is smoothly expired
And when sweat cast off debris
In strenuous flexing of the muscles.

The mind thereafter is cleansed
As one’s probing make the answers
To myriad questions bend upon the inner screen.

Breathing is a key to many doors
That lead me to my destinations.


[Writ. 19 Sept. 1987, Univ. of the Philippines, Quezon City, M.Manila.]

IN FLIGHT (Poem 38)

Erle Frayne Argonza y Delago


What then, my Wings of Flight?
Will you later lead me back to my cradle land?
Will I be what personage by then?
Will I be a Ceasar who shall bring home
Laurels of triumphant conquests?
Will I be like him who came to be known
Through the fiery pathway of warfare?
Will I end up like him, rewarded thereafter
With the cryptic Brutal slay?

O! Blessed Wings! Times are a-different!
Gone are the grand city-states of antiquity.
And the calling is one when nation-a
Are dying
When conquest cast by battles
Is giving way to empathic friendship
Thru the crucible of peace
When lines that create gulfs
Betwixt peoples are effacing
Paving hence the way for brotherhood.
Will I be then an inversion of Ceasar?

Please aid me in solving the puzzle
That much later I may know deeply.


[Writ. 18 Sept. 1987, Univ. of the Philippines, Quezon City, M.Manila.]

IN FLIGHT (Poem 36)

Erle Frayne Argonza y Delago


I shall not go weary with the waiting.
Time’s no evil, Time is kind
Time does not stand still for the doer
As it glides smoothly with the trade’s making.

I shall not go weary with the waiting.
Time is honest, Time is gentle
Time is merciful to the pilgrim
Who’s been shaping up for earnest sharing.

I shall not go weary with the waiting.
Time is not a loathsome changeling
That devours its trusted fellows
Not the man with noble visions.

I shall no go weary with the waiting.
Duty that lifts travelers aflight prevails.
Duty prevails.


[Writ. 17 Sept. 1987, Univ. of the Philippines, Quezon City, M.Manila.]

IN FLIGHT (Poem 35)

Erle Frayne Argonza y Delago


Let there be a better world
For the multitudinous children of Earth!

Why? That which I cannot count
Are bitter, unfed and undernourished
Un-parented, molested, prostituted, disabled
Forced to do trade at primes of innocence.
Squandered children—is this not Hell itself?

I shall fly soon
Having borne in me
The urge to care for them.

Children of Planet Earth
They who should capture the warm sunshine
Frolic the outdoor spaces with wild abandon
Bless the world with inexhaustible imagination

Propel humanity to go on existing.
All the children of Earth are sublime scions
Of the rich universe.


[Writ. 15 Sept. 1987, Univ. of the Philippines, Quezon City, M.Manila.]

IN FLIGHT (Poem 33)

Erle Frayne Argonza y Delago


Here I am in my living sanctuary
Of higher learning—the dormitory
To reshape my faculties
Here I am

Waiting for the beacon
From the sky
Whence I shall fly.

Here I am
Comforted in a seemingly unending wait
By the native maya and robin
Singing encore their lovely melodies of solace;
By the evergreen leaves of shrubs and trees
Anchored so majestically outside my windows
Soothing like unto a great healer my tired eyes;
By the marvelous tunes of symphonies and renditions
My music box plays from morning till night;
By the cool monsoon breeze that flows gently
Into my room breathing pure air
To my lungs and organs.

Thanks to you all, dearest Comforters!
My Gestalt is ever enabled to grasp the world
As my waiting is equated to
A preparatory groundwork

For noble tasks
‘round the Earth
Soonest these shall commence.


[Writ. 14 Sept. 1987, Univ. of the Philippines, Quezon City, M.Manila.]

IN FLIGHT (Poem 31)

Erle Frayne Argonza y Delago


Let me in this sojourn go on
Moving dynamically my hands, feet, body
In rhythmic cadence.

I am also an enthused dancer
Who talks or whispers in gyrating rhythms
Unto peoples who are sleeping
In beds of inaction.

Let them who will see m
Likewise fly high or stand up
And dance along too.
The rhythm is an alarm clock
That wakens
Hybernating multitudes.

Dance! Dance!
For the times that are forthcoming
Make no room for dormancy
The sleeper henceforth is a cadaver.


[Writ. 10 Sept. 1987, Univ. of the Philippines, Quezon City, M.Manila.]

IN FLIGHT (Poem 29)

Erle Frayne Argonza y Delago


Beacon, beacon from the sky
Knock upon my door so bold!
Now that I am enthusiastically waiting
In repose.

Come forth! Do come now!
Red lights of the traffic
Of the benign firmament.

My soul has been
Longing for this flight
Longing for the blessed pilgrimage.

My mecca’s doors may now
Be gleefully expecting for me.

[Writ. 09 Sept. 1987, Univ. of the Philippines, Quezon City, M.Manila.]

IN FLIGHT (Poem 28)

Erle Frayne Argonza y Delago


Cross the boundaries
Of the vast fields of Knowledge.
Drink! Drink aplenty from the inexhaustible
Pool of Erudition!

The mind that is forever prepared
That which is decided to be
A chisel to carve out grandiose beauty
Out of blighted human commonwealths
Will never be seduced
By Ignorance
Whose villainous forces have
Erected quagmires that waylay
Unsuspecting victims.

Drink! Drink more from the inexhaustible
Pool of Erudition!
Your journey’s flight is about to make
Summons.

Knowledge makes every waylaid
Fetter by Ignorance
Impeccably passable.


[Writ. 07 Sept. 1987, Univ. of the Philippines, Quezon City, M.Manila.]

IN FLIGHT (Poem 27)

Erle Frayne Argonza y Delago


O! Magnanimous Pathways of my flight
You are all so many and arduously long!

Please promise me, sweet journeytrails
That I shall find the elusive gifts
That have been offered to me
By cosmic engineers.

I shall stumble upon the hidden places
Upon the caves of treasures

That allow me the luxury to share
More endowments to my fellowmen.

Character, talents, abilities:
These are but specks of said gifts.
Filled am I enormously with gratitude
For having been licensed to possess them.
Yet more there are.

A puzzle shall be solved soon:
How can all men & women procure such riches.


[Writ. 05 Sept. 1987, Univ. of the Philippines, Quezon City, M.Manila.]

IN FLIGHT (Poem 26)

Erle Frayne Argonza y Delago


Paalam!
Women of the Philippine isles!
Paalam!

You are so cherishingly warm.
I sense your warmth
Mirrored in your ever smiling faces.
Your assuring glances alone are sunny rays:
They melt away the ice of weariness
That have gathered in the bodies
Of visiting travelers and warriors.

You have awakened from slumber!
Wakened and strengthened enough to bury
The bottomless pits of injustice where history
Once left you forlorn as
Non-persons.

In flight
I’ll always remember what
You’ve counseled me:
Through you I will discover
The Woman gender of the world
Your awakenings have this me told

That every endeavored dream in the universe
Is markedly possible.


[Writ. 05 Sept. 1987, Univ. of the Philippines, Quezon City, M.Manila.]

IN FLIGHT (Poem 25)

Erle Frayne Argonza y Delago


In locational spaces where audiences are focally
Packed as they watch live or video theatrics
I always pass by the peripheries
Unnoticed.

I am not wont to be a source
Of annoyance in such environs.
I am not.

I leave the place unescorted
With nary a departure message.

I shall in like vein taxi off toward
The azure sky without having
An orgiastic party of bienvenido crowd.

I need not capture attention to be
Noticed.


[Writ. 02 Sept. 1987, Univ. of the Philippines, Quezon City, M.Manila.]

IN FLIGHT (Poem 24)

Erle Frayne Argonza y Delago


O! Streets of my urban den
I will leave you soon!

Dearest Streets we are the finest of bedfellows!
You who were made from
Asphalt Concrete Dirt Mud

Are the true historic pavement
That took care of tired feet
Of my brethren and sisters
We multitudes whose hearts
Were tempered to fight
For sincerest causes

We are creators of a new Parliament:
The Parliament of the Streets
In whose august halls we no longer experience
People’s resentments and aspirations muffled
By the terror batons of false tigers—
Of tyrants and self-deluding messiahs.

Farewell, benign Streets!

[Writ. 02 Sept. 1987, Univ. of the Philippines, Quezon City, M.Manila.]