know history, know self.

I WILL NEVER SPEAK MY/THE MOTHER/'S TONGUE
  • palanggay: endearing term for a younger person/child
  • ayaw'g pangutana: "Don't ask"

ALMANAC
  • Nonoy: my dad's childhood nickname
  • Obliquely about my dad's experiences growing up under martial law (1972-1986) in the Philippines under then-President Ferdinand Marcos. 
  • See "Sea Vision" for a more thorough explanation of aforementioned experiences/settings.

DECLARATION
  • Mangkukulam: one of many indigenous deities of the Philippines; also, in common vernacular, refers to one who practices kulam, or witchcraft

HOME AS DECADES
  • Comprised solely of lines from Joy Harjo's "Falling, Falling" & "Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings", Carlos Bulosan's America is in the Heart, Luci Tapahonso's "I Remember, She Says" & "Tomorrow I Will Drive To Shiprock:", and Tapahonso's "A Tune-Up". 

NATIONAL FISH / LONG WEEKEND
  • bangus: the national fish of the Philippines; called milkfish outside of the islands
  • Island Gourmet: the original Filipinx restaurant in Tracy, where I grew up (there were others, but they came later, so I grew up eating IG cuisine)

FILM ROLL
  • All italicized lines are drawn directly from a passage within Carlos Bulosan's America is in the Heart.
  • camote: sweet potato

CONSTELLATION CULTURE
  • A collage poem synthesizing lines from Eric Gamalinda's "Zero Gravity" and Simon Ortiz's "Culture and the Universe." 

CONDENSED CHILDHOOD
  • Visaya: the region of the Philippines where my dad and mom grew up
  • kain na: "Go ahead, eat already"

SEA VISION
  • Based on my father's direct descriptions of his experience growing up under martial law during the presidency of Ferdinand Marcos. He called himself "dumb and uninformed" for being a Marcos loyalist at the time, but said his family was not political. He also called the radio propaganda for Marcos comparable to "Fox News for the POS". 
  • kadiwa: a small food store; my dad, grandpa, and uncle all had to line up to purchase food, but with his parents' small salaries as teachers, my dad's family could not buy much
  • Cebuano, Waray, Bicolano, Ilonggo: dialects from different areas of the Philippines; my mom speaks Cebuano, but my parents usually communicate in the overarching language uniting both Cebuano and Masbateno (my dad's first dialect, as he grew up in the province of Masbate), Visaya
  • Pulang Bato: the name of my dad's favorite beach -- he said he loved swimming and would often wander around Masbate, since the paths and beaches were walkable & he could not afford much other entertainment

STORY AS MEMORY AS TIME
  • A response to Simon Ortiz's "Time as Memory as Story".