Tags
#ChristineMurphy, #Filipino, #Indigenous, #InternationalWomensDay, #LindaLee, #Litranslation, #MotherEarth, #Poetry, #Sculpture, #Tagalog, #Transcreation, #translation, #WomensHistoryMonth
Original English by Linda Lee, Translate-created to Tagalog / Filipino by Su Layug
photo by Su Layug of the sculpture “Mother Earth” by Christine Murphy, as exhibited at the Illinois Masonic Hospital in 2019.
Dalwang babaeng
Nakaupo
Sumisilong mula sa araw.
Kasaysayang nakalilim,
Saksi sa pagsulong na halaw.
Minamasdan ang bukirin,
Sinasakang mga parang.
Dalwang babaeng nakaupo.
Dating dilag ng kumintang
Mababakas sa kasuotan
Ang kupas at kaigtingan
Ng sinakang mga taon,
Pinaglabang kasigingan
Mga brasong kulubot na
Mga guhit ng punyagi
Mga kamay na nag-aruga
Sa tahanang kinandili
Salaysay ng mga buhay
Dumadaloy, titigil din.
Dalwang babaeng nakaupo
Namamahinga sa tungkulin.
Minsan sila’y umawit din
Ng dasalin at adhika
Dalawang babaeng nakaupo,
Mutya’t ilaw ng gunita.
~ Linda Lee (original English)
Sinalin-likha ni Su Layug sa Tagalog
(transcreated by Su Layug to Tagalog)
Unititled
~ Linda Lee
Two Ladies
They sit upon their shaded porch,
A respite from the day,
Living history under eaves,
There sitting on display.
They looked out on the fields and trees,
The land that held their soul,
Two ladies resting from their work,
The young of long ago.
Their apron stained with this and that,
Their gray heads both held high,
Memories of a hundred years
Relived there in their eyes.
The wrinkled hands that held the plow
In furrows long and straight,
Are hands that cooled a fevered brow
And filled a supper plate.
The lines of life are etched on them,
Their lives about complete,
Two ladies rest there in the shade,
A respite from the heat.
Their cradles rocked so long ago,
To tunes we’ll never know,
Two ladies rest upon the porch,
The young of long ago.
TRANSCREATOR'S NOTES: It took me a while to decide to use this photo to accompany this translation because it only shows one woman sitting, versus two, as depicted in the original poem in English, and as translated to Tagalog. I was wavering between this and another photo wherein there is a real-life woman seated with (in) the sculpture. In the end, the decision was based on the merits of the artwork, itself -- and the idea that another woman -- representing any and all woman -- is understood to be seated beside this sculpture titled "Mother Earth."
waterjug 