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4.82 AVERAGE
4.82 AVERAGE
When I first heard Sara Bareilles’s ‘Manhattan’, it was a revelation. It was probably the first time I heard a song that treated a city as more than just a place, elevated it into a vital, but often overlooked, part of a relationship. It also showed me that a place could be given, returned, and fought custody for. “You can have Manhattan, ‘cause I can’t have you,” Bareilles sang. Conversely, the poet Abner E. Dormiendo in his moving collection ‘Sa Antipolo Pa Rin Ang Antipolo’, wrote, “Ang masamang balita: / sa Antipolo pa rin ang Antipolo. / Ang mabuting balita: habang-búhay na táyo nandito.” We will always have a part of ourselves left in that special place.
Dormiendo took a similar approach: giving life to a place that was an important part of a couple—the third member. In his case, it’s the city of Antipolo where he grew up, fell in love, and broke his heart. Through his poems, he told the story of his relationships with two poetic personae, named, or perhaps even three, with the third one unnamed or yet to be brought to light. The poems in this collection were titled with events and situations that perhaps bore a significance to the poet. And I appreciate that outlined, outright theme. It told me that Dormiendo put his smarts in the creation of this book—he had an image, a goal of how he wanted this to be and I think he achieved that. Going from the typical free verse form to prose, the extent of Dormiendo’s skill was apparent in this collection.
We tend to comment that someone has bared their soul, but sometimes it is misleading or even wrong. With this book, I don’t think it is misleading to say that; I think it’s apt. Every poem in this collection was more personal than the last, more intimate and vulnerable, with Dormiendo baring his soul more and more through each entry. The names of the personae were dropped, making it almost uncomfortable and voyeuristic, that I should not even have my hands on this book. But it was also so generous of Dormiendo to let the readers see him as naked as he had been in these poems. Through lines that were revelatory and passionate, he relayed how the city of Antipolo became his city and how he had lost it, finding solace in different other places, particularly my city of Santa Rosa, but always, always, going back to the place where he was made.
In my favorite poem in this collection “Sa Antipolo Ako Napaibig Sa Iyo”, Dormiendo wrote: “Minsan iniisip ko / kung ano ang nása ilalim ng iyong kamiseta, / at kung ano ang nása ilalim ng nása ilalim / ng iyong kamiseta.” It was cheeky, but also sincere, which I think perfectly sums up the overall tone of the collection. And it was an image that mimicked what he had with this book. The readers saw what was underneath Dormiendo’s shirt and what was underneath that shirt. We got to know him and his city and what a privilege it was to have done so.
Dormiendo took a similar approach: giving life to a place that was an important part of a couple—the third member. In his case, it’s the city of Antipolo where he grew up, fell in love, and broke his heart. Through his poems, he told the story of his relationships with two poetic personae, named, or perhaps even three, with the third one unnamed or yet to be brought to light. The poems in this collection were titled with events and situations that perhaps bore a significance to the poet. And I appreciate that outlined, outright theme. It told me that Dormiendo put his smarts in the creation of this book—he had an image, a goal of how he wanted this to be and I think he achieved that. Going from the typical free verse form to prose, the extent of Dormiendo’s skill was apparent in this collection.
We tend to comment that someone has bared their soul, but sometimes it is misleading or even wrong. With this book, I don’t think it is misleading to say that; I think it’s apt. Every poem in this collection was more personal than the last, more intimate and vulnerable, with Dormiendo baring his soul more and more through each entry. The names of the personae were dropped, making it almost uncomfortable and voyeuristic, that I should not even have my hands on this book. But it was also so generous of Dormiendo to let the readers see him as naked as he had been in these poems. Through lines that were revelatory and passionate, he relayed how the city of Antipolo became his city and how he had lost it, finding solace in different other places, particularly my city of Santa Rosa, but always, always, going back to the place where he was made.
In my favorite poem in this collection “Sa Antipolo Ako Napaibig Sa Iyo”, Dormiendo wrote: “Minsan iniisip ko / kung ano ang nása ilalim ng iyong kamiseta, / at kung ano ang nása ilalim ng nása ilalim / ng iyong kamiseta.” It was cheeky, but also sincere, which I think perfectly sums up the overall tone of the collection. And it was an image that mimicked what he had with this book. The readers saw what was underneath Dormiendo’s shirt and what was underneath that shirt. We got to know him and his city and what a privilege it was to have done so.
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
emotional
reflective
sad
emotional
sad
fast-paced
"Antipolo mahal kong bayan
Pinagpala sa yumi at sa 'yong kagandahan." - Mula sa "Antipolo Hymn"
"Kung ang mundo ay Antipolo, gumawa ng bagong Antipolo."
Sa Antipolo ako ipinanganak, namulat, natutong uminom, natutong manigarilyo, na-bully ngunit natutong manapak at manipa, natutong magmahal, natutong masaktan, natutong maghilom, at patuloy na lumaban, kaya damang-dama ko ang koleksiyong ito ni Abner Dormiendo. Pamilyar na pamilyar sa akin ang mga lugar sa Antipolo, maging ang mga taong nakasama ko rito, mula sa Mayamot, sa Cupang, sa Peñafrancia, sa Pagrai, sa Masinag, sa Padilla, sa Boso-Boso, sa overlooking, sa Taktak, sa mga resort, hanggang sa Katedral ng Antipolo. Nasubaybayan ko ang pagbabago ng lungsod kasabay ng pagbabago ng mga taong nakasalamuha ko rito. Tila isang pagbabalik-tanaw ang mga tula sa mga nakaraang di-mabubura ng alak o ng usok ng sigarilyo. Nananakit, kumukutkot sa mga sugat na malapit na sanang maghilom o naghilom na.
Gustong-gusto ko ang paggamit ni Dormiendo rito ng Antipolo bilang imahen sa mga tula. Kilalang-kilala niya ang Antipolo kung paanong kilalang-kilala niya rin ang mga alaalang iniwan nito. Marami pa ring kinakanta ang mga bata tuwing flag ceremony; wala pa rin akong nakikitang estadistika ng pagpapatiwakal; mahimbing pa rin ang isang dambuhala at di alam kung kailan magigising; hindi pa rin ako nakakikita ng puno ng Tipulo; pinababasbasan pa rin sa katedral ang mga bagong biling sasakyan; marami pa rin ditong nagkakabanggaan; marumi pa rin ang politika; mahirap pa rin makasakay; masarap pa rin ang suman, mangga, at kasoy; pamahal nang pamahal ang presyo ng lupa; mas gumulo ang batas-trapiko---maraming nagbago at nanatiling pareho, katulad kung paano tayo umibig at patuloy umiibig.
Hindi lang tungkol sa Antipolo ang aklat; tungkol ito sa alaala ng dating pag-ibig, sa pangungulila, sa mga nasa, sa mga pangarap na hindi n'yo na sabay makukuha. Sa dami ng pag-ibig na dumaan, malilimutan mo ba ang ilang nagbigay sa 'yo ng matinding pagmamahal at kasawian? Mag-iiwan ito ng marka katulad ng isang malaking pilat mula sa di-malilimutang pagkadapa.
Pinagpala sa yumi at sa 'yong kagandahan." - Mula sa "Antipolo Hymn"
"Kung ang mundo ay Antipolo, gumawa ng bagong Antipolo."
Sa Antipolo ako ipinanganak, namulat, natutong uminom, natutong manigarilyo, na-bully ngunit natutong manapak at manipa, natutong magmahal, natutong masaktan, natutong maghilom, at patuloy na lumaban, kaya damang-dama ko ang koleksiyong ito ni Abner Dormiendo. Pamilyar na pamilyar sa akin ang mga lugar sa Antipolo, maging ang mga taong nakasama ko rito, mula sa Mayamot, sa Cupang, sa Peñafrancia, sa Pagrai, sa Masinag, sa Padilla, sa Boso-Boso, sa overlooking, sa Taktak, sa mga resort, hanggang sa Katedral ng Antipolo. Nasubaybayan ko ang pagbabago ng lungsod kasabay ng pagbabago ng mga taong nakasalamuha ko rito. Tila isang pagbabalik-tanaw ang mga tula sa mga nakaraang di-mabubura ng alak o ng usok ng sigarilyo. Nananakit, kumukutkot sa mga sugat na malapit na sanang maghilom o naghilom na.
Gustong-gusto ko ang paggamit ni Dormiendo rito ng Antipolo bilang imahen sa mga tula. Kilalang-kilala niya ang Antipolo kung paanong kilalang-kilala niya rin ang mga alaalang iniwan nito. Marami pa ring kinakanta ang mga bata tuwing flag ceremony; wala pa rin akong nakikitang estadistika ng pagpapatiwakal; mahimbing pa rin ang isang dambuhala at di alam kung kailan magigising; hindi pa rin ako nakakikita ng puno ng Tipulo; pinababasbasan pa rin sa katedral ang mga bagong biling sasakyan; marami pa rin ditong nagkakabanggaan; marumi pa rin ang politika; mahirap pa rin makasakay; masarap pa rin ang suman, mangga, at kasoy; pamahal nang pamahal ang presyo ng lupa; mas gumulo ang batas-trapiko---maraming nagbago at nanatiling pareho, katulad kung paano tayo umibig at patuloy umiibig.
Hindi lang tungkol sa Antipolo ang aklat; tungkol ito sa alaala ng dating pag-ibig, sa pangungulila, sa mga nasa, sa mga pangarap na hindi n'yo na sabay makukuha. Sa dami ng pag-ibig na dumaan, malilimutan mo ba ang ilang nagbigay sa 'yo ng matinding pagmamahal at kasawian? Mag-iiwan ito ng marka katulad ng isang malaking pilat mula sa di-malilimutang pagkadapa.