Patawad, Inang Wika

Sa aking mga katha,
Marami ang humanga
Ngunit sa sarili ko,
Lihim akong nakukutya.

Damdamin ko'y ipinahayag
Sa wikang banyaga
Di ko kayang iraos
Sa sarili kong wika.

Kung kaya ako naging bihasa
Sa wika ng mga dayuhan,
Dahil ito ang kinagisnan
At di maiwasang matutuhan.

Magaling man ako'y do ko sadya
Dahil hinubog sa wika ng iba
Yaring aking dila pati paniniwala,
Mula pa sa aking pagkabata.

Ngayon, nais kong tumula,
Ito ang tangi kong nasa,
Ngunit ako'y kimi, waring hiyanghiya,
Sa wika ng lahi ko'y nalilito, nalulula.

Patawad, aking Inang Wika,
Di ko ninais maging dayuhan,
Sa sarili kong lupa,
Mahal kita ngunit ako'y kapos sa salita.

by: Maria Luisa Tejero Torrento

My Foreign Tongue

They call my spoken words "slang"

I aspirate my 'ts' and stretch my 'es';
I sound the schwa and speak with a 'twang,
I chatter like a bird in my foreign tongue.

I tell the world of my stories of old,
My pains, my ills, my grief untold;
They heard of me like bells that rang,
Through my glib foreign tongue.

I break the news, I squeal the truth,
I echo the cry for justice so long;
I whisper my love, I shout my demand,
I claim the rights,to my people belong.

I air my gripes, I plead for peace,
I speak my mind, my pleasures I release;
Ideas unheard, I express with grace,
In my foreign tongue, I speak with ease.

I talk to the breeze,
Far across and over the seas;
I lull the song my folks have sung,
In my borrowed foreign tongue.

The door before me,
My folks close with a bang;
They call me fool, my past I flung,
Because I speak in a foreign tongue.

But if I speak not in my foreign tongue,
The lyre of my people shall never be strummed,
My life's sweet symphony shall remain unsung,
For in my native tongue, the world is dumb.

May the anitos of my forefathers forgive me,
I use my foreign tongue not because of loyalty;
I did because I must, out of necessity,
Or else my voice shall be doomed to obscurity.

by: Maria Luisa Tejero Torrento