BULONG NG AMORSEKO

Pasan mo sa iyong katawan Tinik ng iyong mga nakaraan

Sa masukal na parte ng lipunan. 

Tago sa mapanuring mata ng nagtataasang halaman

Ikaw ay parang damong makahiya

Sapilitang gumagapang, kapit patalim 

sa kinasadlakan mong buhay.

Labis na nakayukod. 

Habang pasan mo sa iyung katawan

tinik ng iyung mga nakaraan.

Tapakan ka man, batuhin sa iyung sinapupunan

Ikinhiya ng iyung mga kadugo at kaibigan.

Sa lahat ng mga halaman. Ikaw ay mababa pa sa damong-ligaw

Kasuklam-suklam, kinamumuhian.

Sa pagsapit ng takip-silim ikaw ay malimit magsara

Upang magtago dahil walang ipamukha

Gayundin sa kunting kanting sa'yong baling pakpak

Kalapating mababa ang lipad sayo'y bansag.

Syota ng bayan ang kanilang patutsag. 

Gayunpaman lahat ito's nilunok mo. Pukol ng bato'y

binalewala mo. Sa iyung kalagayan mahirap man isipin

Halaman man silang itinuring. Bagamat manhid ang damdamin.

Mga sumbat ng kanilang labi. Sampal sa iyong magkabilang pisngi. 

Sa bawat hakbang ng mga yapak mo. Habang nakayuko ang iyung ulo

Mga tingin na balat-kayo, mga bulong ng amorseko ...

Akda ni NeiL ArandA 08/03/14

Author's Note

Photo taken from the scene of The Passion of Christ. Jesus and Mary Magdalene.

The Amorseko is a plant that belongs to the family of crabgrass. In its stalks lies several small spindles of seeds that appears in the shape of tiny spears with barbs. Once your clothing came in contact with these plant. You are in for a great surprise. The tiny barbs that adhered to your clothing are very prickly and hard to remove. It's best to avoid them.

The Makahiya plant is a common sight in Philippine grassland. It's famous for its tendency to curl up its leaves at the slightest touch, as if it were extremely embarrassed about physical contact, hence its name: "makahiya" is derived from the Filipino word for "shame" or "shyness" ("hiya").

These two plants differs in personality, physical attributes and social status . The Amorseko stood straight and upright while the Makahiya stood low and creeps close to the ground. But they both have something in common- THORNS. The first utilized it for condemnation. The latter was for self protection.

Thoughts and wordings inspired by Belle

Reviews

[gabrielle]

You tackled a very sensitive issue in here: the plight of the disgraced/marginalized individuals.

The personification is brilliant. For isn’t it that the amorseko stick on the hem of our pants and removing it is so painstaking and like the other grasses, the amorseko could take over our gardens as it could absorb all the nutrients intended for our vegetables/ornaments. Such nature of the amorseko is similar to our general perception of the kalapating mababa ang lipad- they exploit our weaknesses for easy gain (there are those who do it out of extreme needs while others do it to support their worldly lifestyle) They stick to and bleed people dry (I am not saying that it’s all their fault for it takes two to tango). We call them indolent for opting the easiest way to gain instead of the usual hard work. We cast stone on them for their immorality. And like the amorseko, which stick deeply into our clothes, they could weigh us down in the long run. Who would not loathe them?

As to the makahiya, such is another fitting representation of a marginalized person who acknowledged his shortcomings. For isn’t it that when we are at fault, we tend to be like the leaves of makahiya, we bow down so low as an act of contrition and as our humble way of saying we made a terrible mistake? Yet, while it may have been said that admitting our transgression is the first step to forgiveness, this holds untrue in our unforgiving society. We are so easy to condemn and hard to forgive. Perhaps, this is the reason why some of us find it easier to circumvent the truth rather than to humbly admit a mistake. Just like the two kind of weeds you mentioned, sometimes the condemned/marginalized have no other recourse but to put a brave face and develop thorns as a measure of protection.

I tried to write a piece that aims to give voice to the condemned/marginalized (the title of my piece is “work in progress”) but it came out as just plain general statement, which is why I highly commend this piece as you presented ever so gently and so delicately what they are going through without any hint of discrimination or judgment. You’ve given them gentle yet effective voice. I find it brilliant that there are no words offered to justify their acts, or words to appeal for understanding or forgiveness because this piece, I think is not about justifying a mistake, or asking for forgiveness in their behalf--- the intention, I believe, is to rouse compassion and mercy.

Kabayan, this is absolutely beautiful. Deeply poignant. I hope you can translate this for all the readers to understand. To date, this is my Favorite Filipino piece. thank you for sharing.

[Daisie Vergara (Dhaye)]

I love your take on this, Gab. :)

[gabrielle]

Lol. How far did my interpretation deviate from the intended meaning?

[NeiL ArandA]

Gab your passion and persistence to decipher the intended meaning of any author's piece is unrivaled. You nailed it with your fourth stanza.
" I tried to write a piece that aims to give voice to the condemned/marginalized (the title of my piece is “work in progress”) but it came out as just plain general statement, which is why I highly commend this piece as you presented ever so gently and so delicately what they are going through without any hint of discrimination or judgment. You’ve given them gentle yet effective voice. I find it brilliant that there are no words offered to justify their acts, or words to appeal for understanding or forgiveness because this piece, I think is not about justifying a mistake, or asking for forgiveness in their behalf--- the intention, I believe, is to rouse compassion and mercy. "
Thanks Gab .... I'll come back to say more ...

[Belle]

Gabs, you have said it all it, I could not add more...Neil, congratulations on this piece, keep writing, and I am too overwhelmed that even in my absence my inspiration to your pen lives on...Salamat!

[gabrielle]

i am humbled by your kind comments kabayans..:)

[NeiL ArandA]

Salamat to all your patronage and support and encouraging words. Won't be able to do it without you guys. I grew up with Amorseko and I used to pull out a lot of Makahiya in my early school days. This is how my Agriculture teacher discipline his students when they did something wrong by requiring them to find and pull this prickly weeds. I thought about using the two as contrasting concept. I saw Belle's tagalog piece and how well penned it is. So I tried it also in our own dialect. I'm pleased to see that it was well received. Don't know to put it in words. But I don't know how to accept all the compliments Gab had sprinkled on this piece...

[NeiL ArandA]

But thank you ... I am just well acquainted with these two plants.

[Pax]

wow, nice one Gab, pang top reviewer ang dating :)

[gabrielle]

Lol. This is one of my longest comment, pax. Fascinating piece and speaks of human behavior, which i am deeply interested in.