A Poem and a Counter-Charge in the time of COVID

ANG POSAS

Hait kini og tango

Ang paak niini

Mas sakit pa

Sa paak

Sa usa ka hugpa

Sa lamok

Nga nigakos

Sa akong kalag-

Ug bisan katol na

Kaayo, ning

Kasingkasing

Kay way undang

Ang paak

Sa mga lamok. 

Dili nako makatol

O mabutangan 

man lang og Off lotion.

Unsaon man?

Ang akong

Kamot giposasan

Ang akong hunahuna

Gihiktan

Ang akong kalag 

Gipriso.

Igo na lang ko 

Sa pagsud-ong

Sa kangitngit 

Sa  panganod

Maghulat- 

Sa kahayag

Kay dili ko kasulat

Og balak

Nga nakaposas

PASUMBINGAY.

THE HANDCUFFS

Have sharp fangs

Its bite

Is more painful

Than a swarm

Of mosquitoes

Embracing

My soul-

Though the itch

In my heart

Is too much

Because there

Is no stopping

The bite

Of the mosquitoes.

I can not scratch

Nor use off lotion

How Can I?

My hands

Are handcuffed

My mind

Is manacled

My soul

Is caged.

All I can do

Is watch

The darkening 

Of the clouds

Is wait-

For the light

Because I

Can’t write a poem

On handcuffs

METAPHOR. 

By Maria Victoria Beltran 

If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.

 -George Orwell

(Update April 26, 2020: Cebu businesswoman artist and poet Bambi Beltran said she will press counter-charges against the Mayor of Cebu City Edgardo Labella for warrantless arrest, illegal detention, and health endangerment while in prison in the time of coronavirus pandemic.)

See related article: http://justcliqit.com/cebu-artist-businesswoman-jailed-for-her-satire/