Eileen R. Tabios has released over 60 collections of poetry, fiction, essays, and experimental biographies from publishers in 10 countries and cyberspace. Forthcoming in 2023 is the poetry collection Because I Love You, I Become War. Recent books include a first novel DoveLion: A Fairy Tale for Our Times; two French books, PRISES (Double Take) (trans. Fanny Garin) and La Vie erotique de l’art (trans. Samuel Rochery); and a book-length essay Kapwa’s Novels. Her award-winning body of work includes invention of the hay(na)ku, a 21st century diasporic poetic form; the MDR Poetry Generator that can create poems totaling theoretical infinity; the “Flooid” poetry form that’s rooted in a good deed; and a first poetry book, Beyond Life Sentences, which received the Philippines’ National Book Award for Poetry. Translated into 12 languages, she also has edited, co-edited or conceptualized 15 anthologies of poetry, fiction and essays. Her writing and editing works have received recognition through awards, grants and residencies. More information is at http://eileenrtabios.com.
“Adding Philippine English words to the OED is about something
we hear a lot these days—representation. We, in the OED, believe that the
Philippines, just like this country, is part of the English-speaking world.
And as such, Philippine culture, Philippine history, the Philippine experience
must be represented in this great work of scholarship on the English language.”
—from “Bongga! What having Philippine English words in the Oxford English
Dictionary means,” Philippine Star, June 28, 2019
CONSTRAINT: Write a poem featuring
the following additions to the OED: Pan de sal,
Gimmick, Kilig, OFW, Kikay kit, Bongga,
Halo Halo, Pancit, Comfort room, and Trapo
1.
It’s historical, daw
to insert
Filipino
words into this
very proper
Oxford
English Dictionary, this
Book that
more
than defines words
but also
provides
the history that
shaped the
Language—
a language that
colonized us
so
deeply we’ve even
become English
Poets.
Entonces (to quote
another colonizer),
we
make history by
revising history
through
adding to—changing—
the very
language
that subjugated our
words through
erasure.
We give you
“pan de
sal”
without its salt.
We give
you
“halo-halo” without bothering
to explain
how
the Japanese, more
colonizers, introduced
“mongo-ya.”
We give you
“pancit” to
enhance
your turn to
fast food
instead
of more nutritious
thoughts. We
give
you “kikay kit”
with whitening
products
inside its plastic.
We give
you
“kilig” because we
find you
romantic
despite all that
we have
suffered.
We give you
“comfort room”
although,
wait for it,
there’s no
comfort
found in language
which is
fickle
and refuses morality
and other
worthwhile
traits with syllables
like “am,”
“anti,”
“dis,” or “un.”
We give
you…
But we cannot / keep giving / affirmations.
We must also
give you
authenticity.
So we give
you “OFW”
for
the generations created
from centuries
of
“anguish,” “betrayals,” “corruptions,”
“abuses,” “thefts,”
“venalities,”
and so many
more English
words
to lead us
finally to
yet
another gift for
your English
Dictionary:
“trapo,” short for
“traditional politician”
who
is “traditional” for
belonging to
that
ruling class who
you English-speakers
enabled
to ignore then
forget the
ultimate
code for guiding
the responsible
development
of any nation:
“With great
privilege
comes great responsibility.”
Who cares
about
an extra word
here and
there
when “trapos” insist
on lives
beyond
mere words. In
this country
with
17 billionaires, the
poor eat
“pagpag”—
the one word
that your
English
Dictionary should have
included long
ago.
This whole matter
lapses to
gimmickry.
Our people don’t
eat enough
pan
de sal, halo-halo, or
pancit. We can’t
afford
experiences that would
make us
go
kilig with excitement,
joy, or
hope.
The notion of
a “comfort
room”
is laughable when
we all
piss
and shit into
the same
rivers
where we bathe
and drink.
Our
children grow up
without knowing
who
bore them into
their paltry
existences.
Not a single
trapo will
read
this poem whose
existence inappropriately
aspires
to its English
Title—definition:
“impressive”
2.
“Pagpag” is defined
as the
practice
of scavenging through
trash heaps
for
food. Due to
its prevalence
we
most assuredly will
give you
“pagpag”—
how then, my
people, will
we
take pride in
such an
achievement?