Category: love poems

Categories
love poems

Mute Ode

When I saw you coming I walked away
stopping myself from saying your name.
Then I realized, after all this time,
that it had been as it was: me refusing
to say a word. I went on pretending
so I could keep this from ending.

Since I’ve been forgotten, I often
returned to this thought: Holding back
the truth cannot comfort the distraught.
Even as you vanished, inside me
you were wrought. The unsaid
can never be lost: a hand on your chest,
wristbands, a static screen, the path
made by a river drying, burnt homes
in a storm, your favorite book.
Me one day returning it.

After Dean Young

***

I wrote Mute Ode in 2017 after concluding one of the longest relationships I have ever had. I was inspired after reading one of my favorite love poems (or more like lost love) by Dean Young called Ash Ode. My poem is an ekphrasis, and sadly, I feel it pales in comparison to the source of my inspiration. But in any case, as for remaining true to what I wished to articulate, I think writing an ekphrasis certainly helped me express what I needed to say.

This year, a good friend of mine was kind enough to translate Mute Ode into Tagalog and Spanish. You can read his beautiful translations here, just click the following links.

Mute Ode translations by Ralph Fonte:

Tagalog – Odang Umid

Spanish – Oda Muda

Categories
love poems tagalog poems

Odang Umíd

Nang makita kitang lumalapit naglakad ako palayo
at nagpigil na iusal ang iyong pangalan.
Noon ko lang nalaman, na pagkatapos ng lahat ng ito,
ay wala pa ring nagbabago: ako, na umiiwas
sa pag-imik. Nagtuloy ako sa pagpapanggap
upang hindi muna ito magwakas.

Mula ng ako’y nilimot, madalas ko nang
balikan itong hinagap: ang pagkimkim
sa katotohanan ay hindi lubag sa bagabag.
Kahit sa iyong paglalaho, sa loob ko
ika’y nahubog. Hindi kailanman mawawala
ang mga hindi nabigkas: kamay sa dibdib mo,
mga pulseras, estatikong tabing, landas
na lumatag sa natutuyong ilog, mga tahanang natupok
sa gitna ng bagyo, ang paborito mong libro.
At ako, balang araw, nagsasauli sa iyo.

Tulang “Mute Ode” sa salin ni Ralph Fonte

Categories
love poems spanish poems

Oda Muda

Cuando te vi viniendo, me marche
para pararme mismo de decirlo tu nombre.
Entonces me di cuenta, despues de todos,
de esto que ha estado como estaba: yo, rechazando
hablar ni una palabra. Yo segui simulando
para evitar que esto termine.

Desde que he sido olvidado, he vuelto
a menudo a esta pensamiento: ocultar
la verdad no puede consolar a los angustiados.
Justo a la vez que desapareciste tu, dentro
de mi estabaste hecho. Lo que no se ha dicho
nunca se puede perder: una mano a tu pecho,
pulseras, una pantalla estatica, el sendero
hecho por un rio secando, casas quemadas
en una tormenta, tu libro favorito.
Yo, algun dia, te lo devolviendo.

“Mute Ode” translation by Ralph Fonte