Ang Hardin

The Garden

"Ang Hardin"

Minsan ay may isang hardinerong masipag at matiyaga
Isang munting hardin ang kanyang kinakalinga
Mga halaman dito'y mabeberde at matataba
Sa simula'y ganyan siya kasipag mag-alaga

Subalit sa paglipas ng mga araw at buwan
Siya'y labis na nanghina, lakas nya ay napalitan
Yaong mga pananim nya'y unti-unting napabayaan
Hindi na nya magawang lahat sila'y madiligan

Unti-unti nyang nakita ang ibang bagay sa mundo
Di lang pala sa halaman masisiyahan ito
Kaya naisip nyang makisayaw, makiusyuso
Habang di na nya alam ang nangyayari sa harding ito

Noon pala'y nag-uusap mga halaman sa hardin
Ang sabi ng isa, "di dapat mangyari ito sa 'tin
Habang siya'y nagsasaya, tayo dito'y naninimdim
Wala man lang kahit konting wisik sa mga dahon natin"

"Oo naman," ang syang sagot ng isa ring nagtatampo
"Siya naman ang naghangad na lahat tayo ay nandito
Bakit ngayon, nasaan sya upang kalingain tayo?
Matapos nyang ipangakong didiligin ating mundo?"

"Tayo kaya ay mag-aklas, ano sa palagay nyo?
Huwag tayong mamulaklak upang bunga'y wala tayo
Sa gayon ay wala rin syang makukuha kahit ano
Dapat lamang na magtanda ang palalong hardinero"

"Huwag!" Ang sabi ng isang kanina pa nakikinig
"Huwag tayong padalus-dalos, sa galit ay hwag padadaig
Bigyan pa natin sya ng pagkakataong tayong lahat ay madilig
Baka bukas o sa isang araw marinig nya ating tinig"

"Kailan pa?" tanong naman ng isa pang naninimdim
"Ako'y payat at mahina na, walang silbi na pananim
Ang oras ko'y bumibilis, ang araw ko'y nagdidilim
Sana sa kanyang pagbabalik, ako'y bahagi pa ng kanyang hardin".

Author's Note

I posted this at FB but there's a different interpretation, so better to be here.

Reviews

[gabrielle]

Ah, ang hardinero ay may pagka-ningas cogon pala. Minsan tayo ay parang ang hardinerong ito. Nakakalimot tayo sa mga bagay o tao na syang dating nakapagbigay ng saya sa atin. Pag tayo naman ang mga halaman na inabandona: tama ba na tyo ay mag-alaBonifacio? O
patuloy tayo na aasa na bigyan din tayo ng kalinga balang araw? Sa tingin ko wala namang masama if we hope or give second chance to others pero dapat alam din natin kung kailan tayo titigil dahil may mga tao talaga na walang pakialam. If the gardener turn to be too full of himself baka sabihin pa nya sa mga halaman na buti nga itinanim ko pa kayo kung hindi mananatili kayong mga buto. Thought provoking dhaye! Im on my cp right now. Ang saya sana magcomment ng mahaba kaso ang hirao magtype :) ;)

[Dhaye]

Ang saya nga mag-Tagalog. May nakilala akong writer at professor sa literatura dahil sa share ng co-teacher ko. Published writer siya ng mga books sa Abiva Publishing at nasa grade school books mga sinulat nyang kwento. Nag-follow ako sa FB, galing-galing eh.
Cp lang din gamit ko kaya tamad din ako mag-comment sana. Kaso baka magmukha namang taga-post lang ako, di naman marunong magbasa. Kaya, heto tyaga lang...

[Dhaye]

Ang saya nga mag-Tagalog. May nakilala akong writer at professor sa literatura dahil sa share ng co-teacher ko. Published writer siya ng mga books sa Abiva Publishing at nasa grade school books mga sinulat nyang kwento. Nag-follow ako sa FB, galing-galing eh.
Cp lang din gamit ko kaya tamad din ako mag-comment sana. Kaso baka magmukha namang taga-post lang ako, di naman marunong magbasa. Kaya, heto tyaga lang...
Salamat, Gab.

[gabrielle]

Baka pwede ka magpublish ng tula sa mga textbooks. Suggestion lang, yung wag sana masyado mahaba pag pangbata. Maganda rin yung idea mo dito na may two situations kang binigay. I think maganda for classroom discussion, mahahasa ang reasoning skills ng mga bata at hindi puro memorization lang :). Welcome dhaye :)

[Dhaye]

Yun nga sana gusto ko malaman sa kanya kaso ang sagot nya magkaiba daw kami ng pananaw. Nagsusulat daw siya para masiyahan muna ang sarili bago ang iba kaya wala syang pakialam kung may magbabasa ba o wala. Hindi nya sinagot yung tanong ko kung paano at saan pwede magpasa ng articles. Pero may maganda syang sinabi na di ko kakalimutan "kung gusto mong makarating sa mas marami, gamitin mo ang wika nila". "Nila" hindi "natin" sinabi nya after malaman nya nagsusulat ako ng English articles. Kaya naisip ko, sa FB ay more Tagalog ipo-post ko. Totoo, binabasa nila. Yung English kasi, though di naman ako malalim mag-English, bihira naman ang mahilig sa English articles.

[paul sal.....]

I would love to read the english version

[NeiL ArandA]

Very intersting attempt to write in our mother tongue. I would like to give my take on how your piece speaks to me. You started with two main characters in your piece. A gardener and the plants. You used the word gardener instead of farmer. So perhaps this is a small backyard garden and perhaps a recreational hobby on the part of the gardener.

The gardener was portrayed initially as someone who is industrious and responsible person then slowly deteriorated. Something took priority in the gardeners life that causes him to neglect watering the plants. If this is a farmer then it demands his full time attention to the crops since his livelihood is solely dependent on them . The gardener here appears to be sociable and mingles with others affair and have taken all his time which should have been devoted to the tending of the garden . The plants obviously had taken noticed of their caretakers seemingly irresponsible behaviour towards them and began to talk among themselves . Many gave varying opinions on how they should handle the situations . One suggested mutiny , Some suggested to be vengeful and withhold their produce .

Its also obvious that everyone is lamenting that they have not been getting the kind of care and attention they once used to received from their caretaker and they were not a happy camper. But one plant was wise enough to suggest not to jump into conclusion and hastily result in vendictive accusations and revolt nor repay their caretakers seemingly irresponsible attitude and treatment towards them with evil or malicious action .. This plant offered a resolution to give the caretaker or gardener a chance to reevaluate and set his priorities in order.

The plot of the story seems to be geared more heavily on the plants point of view . That they are the victim of the gardeners seemingly irresponsible action. It was not fully explained nor illustrated why the gardener became distracted and irresponsible other than being curious and his carefree attitude . One plant wallowed and had a pity party instead of being proactive. Everyone seems unanimously favor filing their grievances instead of holding a prayer meeting. Not a single plant suggested to establish an open line of communication and to seek clarification on what is going on with their caretaker but immediately assumed they don't matter and they all felt abandoned. So many possible conclusions and applications. If the scenario is applied to a family with childrens or a single parent that have to work longer hours away from home to earn a descent living and support the family. Sometimes some of the children may feel neglected. On the friendship side. The neglected party may have felt ostracized by the gardeners indifferent attitude and treatment towards them. On the spiritual side. It could be someone who are depending on a human being for their personal growth and vitality which can fail instead of digging their roots deep into the living word of God who can't fail, relying on His promises and provisions which ultimately brings growth and fruits since He's the one who supply the sunshine and send the rain.

This piece has some similarities with your poem The Passing . But this one has a symbiotic relationship were both benefits in a give and take relationship. Lovely write ...

[gabrielle]

I missed out the point of this piece. So I have to come back and i saw that Neil had already covered some of my thoughts. So, I hope you guys indulge me for butting in :). Previously, I was more concerned in finding solution on the “plants’” predicament which is why I didn’t see that this piece is not all about being neglected or abandoned. The poem is about COMMITMENT :). A committed gardener will always come back to tend his garden after recovering from sickness or after having experienced the lavishness of various worldly distractions. In this case, it appears that the gardener lacks commitment. On the other hand, if the plant is truly committed to its purpose, that is, to render service to its environment (and not merely to bring joy to its sower), it will still flower no matter what are the circumstances. It makes me wonder would we stop giving out our fragrance (or would we turn our back to our other commitments) just because we feel slighted by someone? I also like the kind of commitment depicted by the one of the plants in the seventh paragraph, commitment in human relationships involves giving second chances . However, it is very important to know when we are already being subject to abuse (as shown in the last stanza). :) :) :)

[Dhaye]

Brilliant minds! I love to read your insights and I am glad that a simple poem which could be as simple as is in a child's mind can make you give such takes. In fact, when I decided to make a piece to be posted in Filipino language, I just want something that is open-ended but could be easily understood by the young readers at FB. But of course for smart people like you, you can relate this to many things and concepts.

You both inspired me to write more, just like how an author has motivated me to write in our own language to reach more Filipino readers.

Thank you so much, Neil and Gab. :)

[NeiL ArandA]

You are right Gab. You are seeing and basing your thoughts from the point of view of the gardener. A gardener or farmer if its on the larger scale won't start something then not finish it or completely abandon everything without a logical reason or explanation. Gardening requires a lot of thoughts and planning put into it to make it a productive garden for plant to thrive and yield more produce. Placement, spacing, sun orientation, soil condition, selection of good variety of seeds, fertilizer and manner of irrigation all have to be put into careful consideration before someone decides to have a garden. What you described Gab is a considerate plant that knows how to appreciate life even during a not so good time or less than ideal conditions. This is like a child who did not become bitter of their parents because their parent wasn't able to come home that day and they missed a meal. If we look again on the poem we can tell that it is a well cultivated soil since there's no competing weeds. They aren't being watered consistently and on a regular basis. So base on your observation here Gab. You may have stated that the plants may have a trust issue with their caretaker. It sort of reminds me again of the Israelites attitude when they were in exodus and found themselves in wilderness but instead of trusting God to meet and supply their every need ( after they have seen His awesome might and power ) they still chose and resulted to grumbling and complaining which has a consequential effect on their generation and they all wasted away instead of reaching the Promise Land flowing with milk and honey.