Tuesday, November 23, 2021

Unang Ulan ng Mayo (Revised with English Translation)

Mayo rin noon.

 

Hubad tayong magkatalikod sa inyong kama.

Tila dalawang estrangherong naipit sa digma.

Subalit, walang bahagi ng isa’t isa ang hindi natin kilala.

Kabisado ng ating puso ang bawat tunog na kayang likhain ng laman,

Bawat marahang pagbasag ng hininga, bawat paghingal na tila pagtataksil sa sarili.

Kilala ko ang bawat hugis at kurba ng iyong katawan

Na daang-ulit nang binagtas at ginalugad,

Gaya ng malalim na pagkakakilala mo sa akin.

Gano’n pa man, kahit ilang ulit nating inaangkin ang isa’t isa

Hindi natin kailanman ito naging pagmamay-ari.

 

Umapaw na ang alulod bago pa man magpasyang lumuha ang langit.

Musika ang iyong banayad na hilik na sinasaliwan

Ng aliw-iw ng hangin. Tumayo ako at nagbihis sa gitna ng katahimikan.

"Hintayin mo nang tumila ang ulan," wika mo habang pinagmamasdan akong umalis

Ang tinig mo'y tila panaginip, hindi ako lumingon.

"Gamot daw ang unang ulan ng Mayo," ang tanging tugon ko.



English Translation

The First Rain of May

 

It was May then, too.


We were naked, backs turned to each other in your bed.

Like two strangers caught in a war.

But, there was no part of each other we did not know.

We knew by heart every sound the flesh could create,

Each gentle shattering of breath, each gasp that felt like a betrayal of oneself.

I knew every shape and curve of your body

That had been crossed and explored a hundred times over,

Just as you deeply knew me.

Even so, no matter how many times we claimed each other

It was never ours to own.

 

The gutter had already overflowed before the sky decided to weep.

Your gentle snoring was music accompanied

By the murmur of the wind. I stood up and dressed in the midst of silence.

“Wait for the rain to stop,” you said as you watched me leave

Your voice was like a dream, I did not look back.

“They say, first rain of May, washes everything clean,” was my only reply.


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