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Ang Balahalang Sapa
Ava Arnejo

 

karon, ang balahalang-sapa ilang gitipi
giipisan nila ug hilo ang iyang mabitoong dughan
gigisi’g gilanit nila ang iyang mga sapang-ugat
hangtu’d nga kini nahiwa’g nabahin —

midagayday ang iyang dugo’ng-tubig isip pagpahasubo
hingyawaan sa pagtiyangis sa akong mga katigulangan
mikulikot nga daw usa ka halas ang kabusaw
daw lawum nga uwat sa kagun-ob sa gikalimtang kalikupan

The River God
Ava Arnejo

 

today, they killed the river-god
pouring poison into its fluvial heart
they stretched the god’s river-veins
snapping, until it bled open —

the god’s blood-water flowing through sorrow
possessed by the cries of my ancestors
their greed meandering like a snake
scar-deep into the broken earth’s forgetting

This contribution is from Poets for Climate, a collaborative project among the branches of The Climate Reality Project in the Philippines, Africa, and Canada in support of When Is Now. The Agam Agenda, together with mentors from each branch, facilitated virtual Pebble Poem Workshops for Climate Reality Leaders every Thursday from 4 August to 1 September 2022. This is one of the many poems that emerged from the workshops. Read more.

This poem sprouted in the Philippines. Highlighted lines above are from “Las venas del río.” by Gloria Carolina Fiallo Cardona in Bogotá, Colombia.
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Thank you, Ava Arnejo, for responding to the public call for poem seeds and sprouts! Every voice matters. Everything counts.
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